Summary Queensland-based woman claimed to provided support through money that was never returned
(Web Desk) – An Australian woman from Queensland admitted to being scammed by fraudster for AUD 100,000 after she accepted his friend request and built an emotional relationship with him.
62-year-old Patricia Meister said she was isolated and going through a rough patch in her life when a man named Carlos from Italy requested to be her friend on Facebook in 2015. She had not only accepted his friend request on the social media platform but also conversed with them for a long time afterwards.
Talking to Daily Mail after the scam, she told that he had a good grip on English language and used to chat in a romantic way which impressed her. Meister said that Carlos – who claimed to be a widower – told her that he wants a long lasting relationship. She admitted that his style of talking and such deep conversations made her fell in love with him.
Carlos told her that he is based in Brisbane where he works as an interior designer. Both Carlos and Meister switched from online conversations to frequent calls. After eight weeks of accepting his friend request, Meister fell in his trap.
Carlos asked Meister to send her AUD 600 reasoning to help her. He asked if she could lend her money, he will be able to survive in Malaysia where his credit card had stopped working. Even when Meister didn’t buy his argument, she sent the money anyway. She even had doubts with his accent and thought it had changed over time. She spotted it to be African or Nigerian.
Such requests for money continued and the total sum reached over AUD 100,000. Even when he assured her that he will return every single penny, this didn’t happen and Meister realised ultimately that she has been scammed for a huge sum.
The conversations ended the Australian woman received a call from unknown number saying both Carlos and his lawyer were injured in a car accident and required immediate assistance to pay off their medical charges. When she refused to pay anymore, the contact with Carlos ended and he stopped making calls.
Speaking about her condition after the scam, the woman said she had lost all her savings in the fraud despite considering herself intelligent and educated. She joined a support group to recover from mental issues and now delivers interviews in which she spreads awareness amongst women to avoid such fraudsters and report them immediately.
