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‘I fell for conman on uniformdating.com’
A WOMAN from the north of the Isle of Man who was scammed out of £400 by a man she met on an online dating website is sharing her story so others don’t fall into the same trap.
A WOMAN from the north of the Isle of Man who was scammed out of £400 by a man she met on an online dating website is sharing her story so others don’t fall into the same trap.
The woman, who asked not to be named, has been told by police that she won’t be able to get the money back.
‘People have to be made aware that this is happening and not to be taken in by it, she said.
‘The minute they start asking for money is the time to stop.’
It started in July after she joined an online dating site, uniformdating.com for the first time.
She was contacted by a man who claimed to be a sergeant with the US Marines, serving in Afghanistan.
It was two weeks after they had been texting each other that he first asked her to send him money.
When asked why she had sent him the money, she said: ‘At the time I was very, very vulnerable.’
She had recently received the autopsy report into the death of her son, who died while serving in the Army.
‘I felt there was someone out there who really did care and who understood the military side of things.’
At his request, she agreed to send him £300, which he said was to help his daughter through her final year of university.
But after she sent him the money he then repeatedly started asking her for more.
He then asked for £1,000, which he reduced to £500 when she refused.
She finally sent him £100, which he said he would use to buy money for food from local people in Afghanistan.
That was when the alarm bells started ringing – but by then she had already sent him the money.
She refused to send him £550, which he said he needed for his redeployment back to the US.
‘He kept on and on about it.’
The man tried blackmailing her into giving him the money, saying that she had promised it to him.
‘He started to get angry with me because I wouldn’t hand it over,’ she said.
‘He will not stop making contact with me but I will not give him £550.’
She added: ‘I’ve reported it to the police. All they can say is “I’m sorry but you’ve been scammed. You willingly gave him money. You will never get it back”.’
The Isle of Man Office of Fair Trading has a leaflet explaining how residents can protect themselves against scams.
It says: ‘The “scammers” are extremely clever and all sorts of people get duped – not just the vulnerable members of society but also those amongst us who feel they have nothing to lose by responding to these contacts.
‘The truth is the losses can be terrifying – people lose thousands, often having their bank accounts cleared out through providing the “scammers” with their bank account details.
‘In the UK three million people fall victim to scams every year and residents of the Isle of Man are not immune.’
Read the leaflet online at www.gov.im/oft/consumers/scams.xml
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Weather for Isle of Man
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
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Temperature: 9 C to 13 C
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