OAP Conned: Like many people Simon Frost was simply in pursuit to find company, perhaps even love, but when he signed up to an online dating site he ended up being conned out of almost £20,000.
The 75-year-old from Cambridge thought he’d found someone to love when he met a woman called ‘Eva Otoo’ – in truth ‘Eva’ was catfishing Simon, using images of an American porn star Briana Lee.
Over the course of two months Simon fell for ‘Eva’, the pair would often exchange emails and calls, however in the process of it all she’d left Simon £19,000 out of pocket.
‘Eva’ scammed Simon by convincing him her late father, who died in 2002, had apparently left her £5 million and 250kg of gold – but she needed money for court documents to release the cash.
Simon even got convincing letters apparently from the Ghanaian High Court and solicitors, advising him of how to transfer the cash.
Simon took out a series of pay-day loans in order to send money to ‘Eva’ and even transferred her £1,600 for flights to the UK – but, of course, when the day came for her to move to the UK to be with Simon ‘Eva’ was a no-show.
“She rang me from the airport and said she checked in,” he said. “I asked her for the flight details but I never got them. She promised many times that she would be bringing a travellers cheque to the tune of £20,000. I did not go to Heathrow to collect her and was just waiting at home expecting her to arrive.”
The loans come with a huge 49% interest rate and Simon now needs to pay £595 a month for two years to clear his debts.
During the months ‘Eva’ had not only convinced Simon to give her money, but she’d convinced him she wanted to spend her life with him and they had a real future together.
Simon said: “I genuinely believed the relationship was real. I don’t understand why anyone would treat me like that. I had good intentions and was looking for a genuine relationship. It has put me off trying anything like this ever again. I would rather be lonely than go through all of this trauma.”
The OAP is now speaking out about the harrowing experience in order to warn others after he even contemplated suicide followed the ordeal.
He said: “I have been treated appallingly. If I wasn’t so strong minded I could have been made seriously mentally ill. I am a pretty strong person but this left me very upset.”
Simon said he has reported the scam to police and Action Fraud, who he said are investigating.
