A Living Nightmare

Ok so where to start..... 2 days ago i stumbled upon an email on my mothers computer, involving quite lovey text along with mention of funds transfer, beneficiaries etc etc. My mother lives alone around 45 minute drive from me and is in her mid 60's. I confronted her with this information and was told it was nothing to do with me, she has been sworn to confidentiality, she will tell me but not now.....
i took down the email address when i saw the email and did a quick search for it on google. it came back as one hit which was for a website that wouldn't load but there was a paragraph of text in the google search which was under a male_scammers section. the exact email address.
i called my mother back and spoke calmly with her and told her what i had found and the story slowly came out.
For the last few months she has cashed in her entire pension fund and sent it off to a guy that she has never spoken to by phone, only email and text, on the promise that he is in love with her and coming to live with her in the uk. There is also the obvious 5 million that he has tied up that he will be able to pay her back from once he returns but he is currently being held by authorities that are trying to extort cash yaddi yaddi ya and the rest of the crap.
I will not go into exact details of amounts etc for now as there is a little more to this story yet.
After many hours of talking she still had a glimmer of hope that i was wrong, the internet was wrong and there is hope that she will get this guy here and they will live happily ever after.
This was quite late so first thing next morning i sat with her and all the emails, bank statements etc and we called the Action Fraud line, Banks, Phone companies etc and many hours later we were moving onto setting up new emails addresses etc.
The day that i found out, my mother had been making plans to hand over another £9000 for beneficiary transfers and had been told that a financial advisor would come and meet her in the local city.
We had been told that they wouldn't have turned up and would have made an excuse and tried to get the money paid another way so we left it at that.
Whilst i was setting up a new email account for her the phone rang and it was the financial advisor saying that he can meet that day, i listened to the African accent on the phone and my mother said ok and he said that he would email her the address.
I felt that this was a good time to ring the police as with a possible arrest opportunity this would be of interest.
they sent an officer around who took the same details as Action Fraud and said that they couldn't do anything about trying to see if someone turned up and it would take months to organise something like that.
I felt this was a bit crap of them but that was their stance.
I didn't think that they would turn up but we were sent a location and time which i chose to ignore.
About 10 minutes after the meet time my mothers phone started to ring but i told her not to answer it. They kept on calling on both her mobile and home phone for some time, nearly an hour.
I then sent a mail, impersonating my mother, to say that i had been there but had lost my phone and nobody had been there so i had left.
Sometime later i got a mail saying that they were there and had been calling me and that i should call them on a number provided.
I think that these people did turn up, they were expecting documents as well, passport, bills, statements etc and wanted to pick those up as well as the cash.
I feel let down as all the information from the authorities told me they wouldn't turn up etc but it seems that they may well of.
I have not answered the mail however i think they are still expecting a response.
The i.p address that all the mails are coming from is in a small area in Southern Ireland, probably a proxy but it is all info that i would have thought someone would want to look into along with the phone number that was being used provided by a uk carrier.
I have contacted a policemen that i know on personal terms that works in fraud department and he has said to just leave it.
Im just seeing if anyone has any advice on how to proceed, It has broken my heart to see my mother treated this way, she feels so ashamed that she has been conned and her intentions were based purely on helping someone that she thought she cared for in a tough situation, seeing her in front of a policeman trying to convince him it may be true really was tough.
I have arranged for victim support to visit her and am staying in contact regularly.
They really have taken everything though, i think she now has £600 to her name from a 6 figure sum.
There are obviously many more details to this story but hopefully that covers everything for a start.

[AlanJones]

Hi havinganightmare,

I'm sorry for the situation you and your mother are in.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for the police to justify allocating the manpower on something that might or might not result in an arrest. When you originally contacted them, they had no proof that anyone would turn up for the meeting and it is often the case that these meetings are arranged and then (because there was never anyone in the UK in the first place) they are cancelled at the last minute and an alternative arrangement made to collect the money from the victim. Even if they had actually turned up, then it could be very difficult to actually get evidence that a crime was being committed.

As I am sure the police have told you, there is no chance of the money being recovered as the scammers will be abroad and just using UK contacts and possible money mules.

Do you know how she transferred the money to the scammers? If it was by bank transfer, then if you can provide the emails (including the headers) where she was given the bank accounts then these can be passed to the relevant people to be investigated. You can email them to the email address in my signature.

I figured as much but i thought i would use this site as a last place to obtain an opinion, thanks for your time.
The money was mainly transferred in branch but a few transactions were made via online banking. i will forward the mails where she was given the bank account details, thanks.
I have just spoken with her and she sounds good, for the situation she's in, looking to the future etc.

Welcome here havinganightmare.

I am sorry you and your mother are going through this. Please make sure to keep a close eye on your mother, as in many cases the victim of such a scam can't let it go. If your mother's old email address is still in use, then the scammers will continue to send scam emails/trying to reel her back in. Once a scammer knows that the victim pays, the scammer will keep on going untill all money is lost. Even if the original scam has stopped, they will try to do a money recovery scam. If your mother's old email address is shut down, they will try it by phone, and try to convince your mother to give her new email address and then go from there. They are very convincing, and ruthless. They will try every trick in the book to get more money out of your mother.

This is also difficult for you, especially after the disappointment regarding the police. Don't feel that you're alone in this, we are here to help. Also, if you have siblings/other relatives who can help or support you and your mother than that would be of great help.

i now have control over the email account, she can no longer access it, and yes they are still trying to contact her. I am in two minds whether to continue speaking with them as they already feel this is an easy target, maybe it is worth it to try to get some information from them. They are still trying to call on her home phone but her mobile has already been changed, her home phone should be done in 5 days.
I do have other family but she is terrified of them finding out the full amount and so they will have to know something has happened due to number changes etc a lower amount will be told, so the gravity of her misfortune can't really be shared.
It was very sad to see her world come crashing in, she has been single for a long time and thought that she had found someone. i have done some further investigation and the ip address from the mails actually come from Ungwan Patachi, Kaduna, Nigeria so it seems that it's a classic case all round.
I do worry as she also gave her home address out and if there is someone actually in the country trying to meet her they will have this info, have there ever been cases of these people turning up at peoples houses? i doubt it as this would be risky for them but you never know.
The ironic thing is that this all started because she was contacted by someone trying to get her to collect a parcel and forward it on, which she immediately came to me as she suspected it was a scam. I told her it was and she should just ignore all of that type of thing, anything from anyone she doesn't know personally etc etc, however she had a bit of spare time and decided to play detective. This person had told her he was a member of a dating site so after attending a police station to report this dodgy mail she thought she would check these sites to see if she could find him to give the police a picture. She obviously had no idea about how these kind of things work but she thought that people would be using their real names, real pictures etc.
Anyhow, thats how she met this other guy. Ironic that she was looking for a scammer, but i guess she was looking so hard that she didn't recognise this one when he popped up.

It's best to drop all contact with these scammers as it is very unlikely to get any information about them. They know they are criminals and want to stay anonymous at all cost. When you break every contact with them they will know they have lost your mother and they will be moving on to find someone else to scam. Therefore it is unlikely they will show up on your mother's doorstep.

You could post the email address that the original scammer has used, and his scam format, that is, the first two or three emails from the scammer. It's usual they use pre written scripts and recycle them endlessly. When posted here other potential victims can find the information and be warned.

Sorry to hear about your Mum, I have also been scammed out of a large amount of money and reported it to Action Fraud, they do nothing other then collect data!!
I then decided that no, this was a crime, and got in touch with my local police and insisted on speaking to a detective. Two DCs came to see me and took all the details and relevant emails, phone numbers etc, and they are investigating and keeping me up to speed with what they find, but unfortunately because the scammers are in Africa and cover their tracks very well, there's not any progress, which in all honesty I didn't really expect as I sent my money by Western Union and MoneyGram, but you have account numbers etc so they may be able to find something. The local police actually told me that Action Fraud was a waste of space!!
Try making a bit of noise with your local police, they have a duty to investigate a large loss of money, they may not be able to find anything, but I at least felt I'd tried.
Also, even though your Mum seems OK she very probably isn't, none of my family or friends know anything about my scam and on the outside I'm carrying on as normal, but inside I feel a total mess, your Mum is very likely to feel the same. She might find it helpful to come on here and talk about it to people who understand because they have been through it as well. Nobody else can really understand how you get dragged in.

Your mother is so lucky to have you! I am so sorry this has happened to you both. As someone up top said, please really do keep an eye on as now she is RIPE to be targeted by other scams...they will say that they can recover the money...other men will try to romance her...and on and on...its a horrible thing and I wish you both luck in starting a new chapter of your lives

havinganightmare - I notice you mention

The money was mainly transferred in branch but a few transactions were made via online banking

.... so there must be a receiving account in the UK which means that there is something for the UK police to investigate.

I would suggest that you insist they do in view of the amount involved and the circumstances. Though the account may only be that of a money mule, it's possible that the scammers use UK based contacts and a UK based gang of romance scammers have recently been arrested and I have mentioned it in the 'News Forum' not that I'm suggesting that they are involved. I only mention it to indicate that the police can do something.

I am not suggesting that the money can be recovered but there is a chance that those who get involved in the UK can be pursued by the authorities, and they should be pursued.

My mother lost everything too. 62 years old - $937,000 - yes - almost one million!

She is screwed for the rest of her life. I couldn't believe she could be so stupid AND that her bank let her send wire transfers up to $180,000 in one transfer.

The police? Useless. This scammer even arranged to meet up with her in Madrid and London (we are in Canada)

She actually went - taken to a bank and given a $100 from the money she was "helping" to get from her romantic partner who happened to never be there.

nothing you can do - ONE MILLION. That's right! Everything - her life savings - her home - everything. A successful business woman who lost everything.

I'm so sorry. I can relate to the nightmare.

To see the story when she told the media

http://globalnews.ca/news/125083/okanag ... 1-million/

ok so this is where i'm at with this, after doing a little bit of digging i now have 3 people that have been actively involved in this scam in the uk. I have home addresses for all 3, one phone number for one of them and records of their companies that they set up to open accounts for money to arrive in. I also have one of their Facebook profiles. I have 3 different companies that are currently trading only to launder money from victims. The police have been absolutely rubbish, for the last month it seems that there isn't even a detective assigned to the case. Some info that i got from the police is that they arrested somebody in relation to this crime however they obviously won't tell me anymore. I have not passed on this latest information to the police as i am still toying with the idea of other avenues. The arrest they have made seems to tally with one of the individuals that i have identified. So what to do know? I have access to people that can carry out jobs for me which right now seems to be the way i'm leaning. Of the 3 people, 2 are easily linked however the 3rd i can't find a connection to the other 2 but i am in no doubt at all with the info that i have that these people at least laundered the money, this isn't a case of they are innocent and have had their identities compromised , i did check this first. These people are making a living from scamming people so i really don't feel mercy right now and upon further digging they are almost certainly involved in property benefit fraud. So any suggestions?

[AlanJones]

I suggest that you do not post on public forums that you "have access to people that can carry out jobs for me" as that sounds to me like you are planning to have people who could well be innocent attacked or killed.

The idea of a vigilante action is stupid - actively posting that you are planning it on a forum which will have recorded enough of your details to potentially identify you is idiotic.

I've reported your post so that the site admins can decide what action they wish to take about your apparent threats.

I think that you may have misunderstood, i am not talking about attacking or killing anyone, that is a little extreme, however i am talking about applying a little pressure on them, let them know that people are aware of what they are doing etc. I think your post is a little bit of an over reaction. However i was interested to know what other people would do if they knew some information about their scammers that identified them. Do you really believe that the police are the best way to go? Their attempts so far have been pathetic and they are not interested, so what avenue does that leave? just sit back and be a victim and let these people just carry on with no come back?
These are not innocent people, they have played an active part in taking my mothers money. Please feel free to ban me from the site, if this is the kind of response i get maybe it would be better. Good luck to you all.

Just to add i was told by one of the site moderators to stop all contact as i would't get any information from them but i kept in contact and managed to get plenty of information, as they get more desperate for more money they have gotten very sloppy.