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Match.com: Men guilty of dating website scam

8 September 2014

Four people have been convicted at Winchester Crown Court over a match.com scam.

They were found to have used the dating website to trick 12 women out of nearly £250,000 by using fake profiles on the site.

See the video on BBC

Two men have been convicted for their roles in a scam to con 12 women out of nearly £250,000 via a dating website.

Winchester Crown Court heard the fictional “James Richards” told women using match.com that he needed money to release a £100m inheritance in India.

One victim handed over £174,000.

Peter Monty Emu, 28, of Portsmouth, and Adewunmi Nusi, 27, of Hermitage, Berkshire, were convicted of money laundering. Chukwuka Ugwu, 28, and Emmanuel Oko admitted the same charge.

Oko, 29, of Waverley Grove, Southsea, also admitted fraud.

The four men are due to be sentenced next month and the Crown Prosecution Service will apply for the “ill-gotten” money to be confiscated.

The court heard how fake profiles were created on the dating site.

Women were flattered by the messages from the “attractive middle-aged man”, one of which said: “I knew our friendship would grow from the first day we spoke but neither one of us could imagine the love exploding, no thundering into our hearts.”

‘Elaborate scam’
Once the relationships developed, the conspirators started requesting cash.

The women were first asked for a £700 legal fee by a fake solicitor but then the sums requested rose to up to £100,000.

One victim, Suzanne Hardman, handed over £174,000.

Suspicions were raised when one woman received the same email twice and wrote back to the sender, saying: “I wonder how many hearts you have broken”.

Det Con Darrin Carey, of Hampshire Constabulary, said: “The women were duped into thinking that they were talking to a man who was genuinely looking for love on the dating website match.com.

“Unfortunately for them, they were part of an elaborate scam.”

Abbey Boston, 28, of Titchfield, Hampshire, was cleared of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.

Eberechi Ekpo, 26, of Portsmouth was acquitted under the direction of the judge on 29 August.

A match.com spokeswoman said: “Unfortunately, there is a tiny minority of people out there who want to exploit others over the internet. We advise people to use the same common sense as they would if they were meeting someone in a bar or a pub.

“We give lots of safe-dating advice on our site and in emails to members. This makes it clear that you should never send money to anyone you meet online.

“We invest heavily in the latest technology alongside a dedicated team of people and work closely with the authorities to make dating as safe as we can.”

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At the SCARS Institute, we invite you to do your own research on the topics we speak about and publish, Our team investigates the subject being discussed, especially when it comes to understanding the scam victims-survivors experience. You can do Google searches but in many cases, you will have to wade through scientific papers and studies. However, remember that biases and perspectives matter and influence the outcome. Regardless, we encourage you to explore these topics as thoroughly as you can for your own awareness.

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Some of our articles discuss various aspects of victims. This is both about better understanding victims (the science of victimology) and their behaviors and psychology. This helps us to educate victims/survivors about why these crimes happened and to not blame themselves, better develop recovery programs, and to help victims avoid scams in the future. At times this may sound like blaming the victim, but it does not blame scam victims, we are simply explaining the hows and whys of the experience victims have.

These articles, about the Psychology of Scams or Victim Psychology – meaning that all humans have psychological or cognitive characteristics in common that can either be exploited or work against us – help us all to understand the unique challenges victims face before, during, and after scams, fraud, or cybercrimes. These sometimes talk about some of the vulnerabilities the scammers exploit. Victims rarely have control of them or are even aware of them, until something like a scam happens and then they can learn how their mind works and how to overcome these mechanisms.

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While any self-help techniques outlined herein may be beneficial for scam victims seeking to recover from their experience and move towards recovery, it is important to consult with a qualified mental health professional before initiating any course of action. Each individual’s experience and needs are unique, and what works for one person may not be suitable for another.

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