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An Auckland man has lost nearly $50,000 after being lured into an online romance scam with the promise of financial gains and “a better life”. 

The 78-year-old, who did not wish to be named, told the Herald he first spoke to the woman about six months ago through an online website. 

Their conversations later shifted to messaging service Telegram and they video-called twice. 

“It was all chat, chat, chat. I didn’t meet her in person because she said it was all too soon and then all of a sudden she had to go to Australia,” he said. 

The man said the woman told him she was from Singapore but owned a jewellery studio in Auckland and invested in real estate and the money markets with her father-in-law. 

“She said, ‘You should invest with this crowd and I’ll guarantee your losses if there are any and I’ve never lost anything yet’.“ 

The man said he was duped by the promise of money-making and “a promise of a better life”. 

“Everyone told me I was crazy, but I believed it. I wanted to believe it. Young girl, awesome looking. I’m 78, live on my own, get a bit lonely at night,” he said. 

“I kept fooling myself and thinking she was going to turn up. She made three promises to turn up, for my birthday, ‘I’ll be back by Christmas, back by New Year’s’.” 

The man said the scammer had promised to turn up for Christmas and new year. 

The man would withdraw money and feed it into a crypto coin drop machine to avoid raising any alarms with his bank. 

“[I] transferred it to an online trading platform using crypto and they sent it on to another in US dollars and then it went into my account which we then traded with.” 

The 78-year-old estimated he was withdrawing $2000 a day at the peak. 

“I was transferring it from my savings to my chequing account and then withdrawing it,” he said. 

“She would come to me and say her father-in-law has let her know there is a trade going on soon. When it would happen she would message me and run me through the steps of how to do it.” 

He told the Herald he made a profit for the first four or five transactions. However, he traded what he thought was US$75,000 ($133,000) last month but then lost it all. 

The man would withdraw money and feed it into a crypto coin drop machine to avoid raising any alarms with his bank. 

After the trade went wrong, the woman told him her account had gone into minus, so he had better check his. 

“Her story was she invested $2.4 million and then she showed me her loss in her account at $1.5m,” he said. 

The man still talks to the woman but refuses to give her more money. 

“I’m still trying to find out a little bit more about the lies because they are all there. But I don’t get any answers. I should have just blocked her.” 

The man said he approached the authorities, however, they were unable to help. 

The man doesn’t believe he will ever get his money back. 

The man was pressured to keep adding thousands of dollars to his online trading accounts. 

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) threat and incident response team lead, Tom Roberts, told the Herald that in the first three quarters of 2024, they received 113 reports of romance scams, with a reported loss value of $380,000, and 35 reports of cryptocurrency scams, which resulted in a $1.6m financial loss. 

“Romance and cryptocurrency scams also account for a significant proportion of incidents with large losses – above $100k – reported to us every quarter,” he said. 

Roberts said it’s not a person’s fault for falling for a scam. 

“Scammers are professionals and use social engineering techniques to appear credible and authoritative. 

“They also look to exploit our vulnerabilities and our kindness to steal from us. It can be hard to spot the signs.” 

Romance scam signs 

It is not easy to spot a romance scam. Even where there are signs, you may find it hard to believe that the seemingly caring person you have been talking to is a scammer. It is important to take a step back and check for any of these red flags: 

• The person you have met online makes excuses for not wanting to meet in real life, over live video chat, or in person or they are based overseas. 
• They profess strong feelings or show emotional attachment early in the relationship. They ask you for intimate photos and videos but do not share theirs. 
• They frequently steer the conversation towards investments or talk about needing money. When they ask you to send or invest money, they create a sense of urgency, giving you little or no time to think it through. 
• A common tactic scammers use is to ask you to send money through a cryptocurrency trading platform. 

David Williams is an Auckland-based Multimedia Journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.