- Terri, an elderly oyinbo woman, appeared on the “Dr. Phil” show to share her story of sending nearly $80,000 to her online boyfriend, who turned out to be a scammer.
- She met the man, called Ricardo, on Facebook Messenger and fell for his promises of a quick return on investment in Bitcoin.
- Despite suspicions from her sister and a lack of solid evidence of Ricardo’s existence, Terri continued to send him money until it was revealed on the show that the photos he used were stolen, and he was not who he claimed to be.
Terri, an elderly oyinbo woman shared her story on the “Dr. Phil” show, revealing that she sent nearly $80,000 to her online boyfriend before realizing it was a scam.
She met her supposed lover, “Ricardo,” on Facebook Messenger two years ago and quickly developed a relationship with him.
Just one month into their communication, Ricardo asked Terri to invest $10,000 in Bitcoin, promising a massive return of $1 million within six months.
Elderly oyinbo woman refused to believe she was scammed, insists boyfriend is real
Convinced by his assurances, Terri wired him the money and continued sending him more funds, despite having no solid evidence of his existence besides photos and phone calls.
Ricardo claimed to be a U.S. citizen based in Los Angeles but used his supposed relocation to Canada for work as an excuse for not meeting Terri in person.
Despite her sister Tammy’s suspicions and warnings, Terri refused to believe she was being scammed.
“People are still telling me that Ricardo isn’t real, that he’s scamming me and that he’s not in Canada. “I don’t believe them … I believe Ricardo’s real,” she lamented.
Dr. Phil intervened and conducted a fact-check, revealing that the man in the photos Ricardo sent to Terri was actually named “James” and his pictures were commonly used in romance scams.
In a video sent to the show, James himself said, “I’ve been dealing with this for over 10 years. I hope this video can show that I am the person in the photos, but I am not the person that Terri has been talking to and sending money to.”
Heartbroken by the deception, Terri vowed to block the scammer, change her phone number, and move on from the fraudulent relationship.
READ ALSO: Ghanaian influencer, Hajia4Reall, extradited to the US for alleged $2 million romance scam
51-year-old woman looking for love gets scammed of 2.2m pension
Meanwhile, a 51-year-old woman desperately searching for love was scammed of her N2.2m.
The South African woman identified as Sthembile Duma did not only get her heart broken but also ruined her finances.
According to the sad story shared on Twitter by @VehicleTrackerz, the woman signed up on popular dating site, Badoo, in an attempt to find love.
