Jacksonville veteran says he’s victim of a social media romance scam

2 years ago 254

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville subject seasoned is successful information of losing everything aft helium says helium was scammed connected Facebook by a pistillate who said she wanted to wed him.

At 73, Bob Creswell thought helium had recovered love. He said a 31-year-old pistillate named “Ruth” from Charleston, South Carolina friended him connected Facebook successful September.

“She said she wanted maine to substance her. I texted her and we started talking and she was telling maine that wealth tin sometimes beryllium progressive successful a relationship,” Creswell said.

At first, helium was skeptical.

“I told her that if you attraction astir somebody, you don’t person to wage to attraction astir somebody. So she benignant of backed disconnected connected that, but arsenic it went on she said, ‘Look my telephone is moving out,’” Creswell said.

He says helium sent her 18 cards with $20 each to enactment minutes connected her telephone and past the speech turned to thing bigger. She said she was going to get a $40 cardinal inheritance, but needed to beryllium joined successful bid to person it.

Creswell says helium tried to sojourn her but she told him it would interfere with her inheritance.

When asked if helium ever thought helium was getting scammed, Creswell said: “I had a fewer aspersions astir that but my large bosom didn’t privation maine to judge the information and due to the fact that I thought I was joined to her.”

He says helium paid an lawyer $300 to get married, and erstwhile Ruth asked for $5,780 successful ineligible fees to get to her inheritance, helium overdrew his slope account.

She sent wealth to reimburse him, but those checks bounced.

“When I got that cheque and cashed it and went to spell to the store to bargain a 12 battalion of beer, I couldn’t bargain it,” Creswell said. “So what’s successful my slope account? They said I was $5,780 successful the debt.”

“I thought I was joined to her,” helium continued. “I thought I was successful emotion with her. I inactive do. And aft being scammed similar this, it’s costing maine my estimation arsenic being honorable and straightforward with everybody other that I know.”

Creswell filed a study with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. He said adjacent though his encephalon tells him that helium was scammed, his bosom is having a hard clip accepting the idiosyncratic who called themselves Ruth is simply a fraud.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, aged victims of romance scams mislaid astatine slightest $139 cardinal successful 2020.

There are immoderate ways to cheque if a caller suitor is really excessively bully to beryllium true. If you person a photograph of them, you tin reverse representation hunt connected a website similar TinEye. We uploaded a photograph of Ruth and traced the representation to escort sites.

According to AARP, phony suitors scope retired to imaginable victims connected societal media and planetary transgression gangs usage dating sites to find victims to launder soiled wealth done their slope accounts. The FBI besides reported a rising inclination of romance scammers asking their victims to marque investments successful cryptocurrency specified arsenic Bitcoin.

Creswell has the enactment of the American Legion, which is moving to rise wealth for him. Creswell says he’s besides looking to get a occupation to assistance repay his debt.

Read Entire Article