LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A 76-year-old widow has been allegedly scammed Of her $70,000 life savings by a man she met on Facebook and fell in love with.
According to reports, Jennifer Dennis was reportedly living in Georgia when she met a man on Facebook identified as Caleb, who claimed he was working as a doctor for the Red Cross in the Republic of Yemen.
After two months of chatting online, Caleb proposed that they buy a home together in Cary, North Carolina, to live together and have a fresh start.
Dennis liked the idea because “Everything about the house and the area reminded me of my husband, which was just heartbreaking,” she told WTVD of her living situation.
Caleb allegedly claimed he would pay $600,000 toward their new home and asked her to pay the remaining $70,000. Dennis said she sent him that amount, plus $8,700 for other expenses.
According to Dennis, she and her son, Raymond, packed up all their belongings, sold their Georgia home and drove to the house in Cary. Her son quickly realized that the whole story seemed odd.
READ ALSO: Nigerian-American Man Sends Romance Scam Proceeds Worth $350,000 To Nigerian Family
“When I noticed that someone was still living in the house and knocked on the door, I automatically knew that it was a scam,” Raymond told the TV station.
“The owner of the home told them he had lived in the home for years and had no intention of ever selling.”
When Dennis informed Caleb, he sent her a picture showing that he had ‘supposedly been beat up’; she never heard from him again.
“I had all that money, and I don’t think I’ll ever get it back,” Dennis told ABC’s Good Morning America on 29 September.
According to her, a member of their church later donated a camper for them to live in.
“I think that it’s devastating for me, but I have my son, which has been a blessing,” she told WTVD. “So some women are totally alone, and they get scammed like that.“
Romance scammers emotionally manipulate victims into thinking they are in a real relationship to exploit their kindness.
Recall that Voiceofnaija.ng had, in April, reported that a 40-year-old Nigeria-American, Charles Obije, was facing time in US prison for his role in an online romance scheme targeted at elderly women and sending the scam proceeds worth $350,000 to his family in Nigeria.
