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Foreign Fraudster has duped my FIL out of his life savings of +£30k! Help

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for any sort of advice that might help us to stop this scam from happening to anyone else.
My Father in law has been chatting to a woman online for the last 12 months and over this time he has been sending her 'financial help' for 'medical bills' in Cyprus to the tune of approx £30k. She claims to have a British passport although she is clearly foreign although she also has an typically English name (probably fake).
She has promised to visit him, although she hasn't turned up yet and I don't think for a minute that she will.

I know at this point that the money will never be recovered as this frauster has used clever strategies for making sure that they could never be traced, using Moneygram to receive the cash and lulling his in a false sense of security by providing him with a £60k Bankers draft (in her name!) from an Austarlian Bank. Money was also sent to Malaysia and Nigeria on her behalf :eek:.
We have only found out over the weekend and we are in a complete state of shock at his vulnerability.
We don't know what to do, or who to turn to, but we need to report this to someone, we just don't know where to start.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and also, please, if you have a vulnerable relative that chats to people on the internet, please check, who they are talking to, what they are doing and make sure they are not involved in a scam like this! I'm sure he won't be the only one!! :(

Comments

  • Googlewhacker
    Googlewhacker Posts: 3,887 Forumite
    ....police!
    The Googlewhacker referance is to Dave Gorman and not to my opinion of the search engine!

    If I give you advice it is only a view and always always take professional advice before acting!!!

    4 people on the ignore list....Bliss!
  • maninthestreet
    maninthestreet Posts: 16,127 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    Ensure your FIL has no further access to the Internet.
    As Nigeria gets mentioned, it's extremely likely that the fraudster is located there rather than Cyprus, and is far more likely to be a hairy-*rsed bloke rather than a woman.
    "You were only supposed to blow the bl**dy doors off!!"
  • kazwookie
    kazwookie Posts: 14,010 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Report to the police

    Print off any emails etc, do NOT deleted any as the police may be able to trace IP's etc..

    Get your father to list out on paper with a pen (the old fashioned way) date and amount he sent and to what accounts/ or whatever if he can remember or look at this bank statement.

    Take your father's laptop away from him for now, but to dont delete anything off it, the police any want to have it.
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  • SD1_2
    SD1_2 Posts: 103 Forumite
    Contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040

    They'll give you a crime reference number and put your FIL in touch with victim support
    Blogger, Journalist and Author writing about scams and online ripoffs
  • SD1_2
    SD1_2 Posts: 103 Forumite
    edited 7 March 2011 at 1:59PM
    If you want to help warn other people about these scams you could also contact one of the many scam awareness websites who will be happy to tell your FIL's story.

    You should be very wary also of "Recovery scammers" who may pose as law enforcement officials (including the EFCC and the FBI) claiming that they have arrested your FIL's scammer and can help him get his money back (in return for a hefty "administration fee")
    Blogger, Journalist and Author writing about scams and online ripoffs
  • He really should go to the Police ASAP.

    Keep EVERYTHING related to this, and I would put all his on line dealings with this on a USB data stick. Also like Kazwookie said print off any emails, etc.
    Get copies of anything at all that he has related to this,eg Bank Statements.

    Don't let your FIL delete anything.
  • Thank you so much for your guidance, I will get onto the phone number right away!!
    Really appreciate all your help,
    Thanks x
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