Criminals are constantly devising new versions of scams to extort as much as possible from their victims. Unfortunately, women very often fall victim to romance scams. Ruthless fraudsters exploit their loneliness, difficult life circumstances or—as is simply the case—gullibility.

They very often pose, among other things, as American soldiers, commandos, oil rig workers, doctors on missions and so on. The stories they tell are thought through down to the smallest detail and constructed to arouse strong emotions.

The criminals gradually befriend their victim and gain her trust. Then, when the right moment comes, they ask for money. The unsuspecting victims, unaware of the deception, transfer their funds to the criminals’ bank accounts, often losing all their savings. The officers said: “Let us remain vigilant and not be misled by appearances! Let us verify every acquaintance made over the internet.”

Recently, a 40-year-old woman from Świdnica County reported to the Świdnica police station that she had been scammed by an online womanizer and had consequently lost nearly 6,000 złotys.

A promising beginning to a bad ending...

The entire “romance” began in January 2022. The man contacted the 40-year-old woman from Świdnica County through one of the popular social media platforms. He claimed to be a 44-year-old employee... of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

Police: “While corresponding with her, he told her a great deal about himself, thereby gaining her trust. In their conversations, he showed increasing interest in the woman he had just met.”

After some time, he persuaded the 40-year-old to lend him several hundred dollars to cover the cost of transporting parts to the rig. (He supposedly could not pay for it himself because his account had allegedly been blocked.) Unaware that she was being scammed, the woman gave in to the request and transferred the money.

But it did not end with one “loan.” The quasi-American repeatedly asked for more money. The fraudster’s supposedly final request was for a loan to… fly off the rig by helicopter.

The man assured his benefactor that he would repay all the money; he promised that they would meet soon and declared his love.

“When life had already stripped the man of his mask...”

So, when the woman transferred the agreed amount for the “helicopter flight,” it suddenly turned out that the meeting would not happen after all; the pseudo-suitor told his “beloved” that he would not be able to leave the rig because of a conflict with his boss. And—though this will hardly come as a surprise—he asked for more money.

The woman realized that the “American” was pulling the wool over her eyes and notified the police.

Let us recall that this type of fraud carries a sentence of between six months and as many as eight years in prison.