Oh dear

The Herald reports:

A Dunedin woman has been left $2500 out of pocket after a man she met online took advantage of her by telling her what she “wanted to hear”.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said a man from America added her on Facebook and started messaging her.

“He was saying things like he needed a friend.

Most days I get someone I don’t know messaging me on Facebook. I block them and report them as spam unless it is an obviously genuine contact. Those that start with “Hello” tend not to be.

Within a day he started saying he loved me and could see a future with me,” she said.

Oh dear.

That carried on for two weeks before he told her he had sent her a parcel with valuable gifts in it, and gave her the track and trace number.

She then received emails from a courier company in Malaysia asking for $2500 in tax.

She got out a loan and paid the $2500

No, no, no.

before the courier company emailed again saying she would have to pay $15,000 for insurance – so she called the man who told her there was $600,000, a diamond ring, a watch, some jewellery and an iPhone 6.

Yes, total strangers often send $600,000 of presents to someone after chatting to them online for two weeks.

“He said ‘please, please, please’ and I’m the type of person who will do anything for anyone so I went to the bank to get another loan. That’s when the lady there said I think we’re being scammed, I think we need to go and see the police.”

Good bank lady.