Yahoo Finance Horror realisation as Aussie widow loses thousands of dollars: 'Man in a cupboard'
Maggie is warning others to be careful about who you meet online after sending tens of thousands of dollars to a man she thought she loved.
A Perth widow has opened up about the moment she realised she had been caught up in a romance scam. Maggie Ayres jumped on online dating after her husband of 46 years died.
A man named Bryan emailed her in 2023 and the two hit it off instantly. They would chat through messages as well as video calls, but those always had to be scheduled in advance.
The Perth woman said she felt "safe, appreciated and loved" by Bryan, who told her he worked on an oil rig in the North Sea.
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While she was sceptical of Bryan, he tried to assure her by showing her photos of his passport and oil rig contract. Little did she know that all of those had been created with artificial technology.
The online lover convinced Ayres to send him tens of thousands of dollars over the course of their romance and claimed the money was for replacement parts on the rig.
"Every time there was something else. He started blaming me because I took too long to send the money," she called.
Bryan told her that once all the equipment was sorted, he would be able to come to Australia and they could finally be together.
Have you fallen victim to a scam like this? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
But the penny finally dropped when the two were on a video call together and Ayres' world came crashing down.
"A technical glitch happened, and while I still heard Bryan's voice I saw a black man sitting in a cupboard covered with a blanket so that I could see his face and his mouth," she explained.
"I immediately disconnected the call … and I shouted out loud in disbelief: 'Is this reality? Is this guy the scammer? Am I really being scammed?'
"I couldn't believe it."
Deepfake technology conning Aussies out of thousands
The man pretending to be Bryan used deepfake technology to steal the voice and face of an American real estate agent, whose identity has reportedly been used multiple times in scams.
This is how the scammer was able to jump on video calls with Ayres and keep the ruse going for as long as it did.
WA Commerce Minister Sue Ellery said this type of tech had been used in two other romance scams recently that saw victims send over a combined $1.4 million.
Western Australians lost $3.7 million last year to romance scams and the number for 2024 is already up to $2.9 million.
Ellery said Aussies need to be careful about people they meet online.
"Never transfer money to someone you have not met in person," she said.
"Major red flag. If someone you have not met in person is asking you for money, block and delete, get out of it.
"If you try and transfer yourself into a day-to-day, face-to-face situation, it would be very strange for someone you've just met to ask you for serious amounts of money.
Ayres was shocked when she realised other people had been caught up in a similar scam.
"I thought it was just me and that I was just a stupid victim of the scheme," she said. "I've not only lost my companion, but also my independence, my self-confidence and my value.
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How do I protect myself from scammers?
Aussies lost $2.7 billion to scams last year, with 601,000 cons reported to authorities, according to a new report from the Australian Anti Scam Centre.
That's down from a record $3.1 billion the year previous, however, the number of scams reported went up by 18.5 per cent. Over 65s were the hardest hit and only group to take a higher loss in the last year.
Investment scams are the most prolific, with $1.3 billion lost, followed by remote access scams ($256m) and romance scams ($201.1m).
Scamwatch warns to beware of the following scenarios:
It’s an amazing opportunity to make or save money
Someone you haven’t met needs your help - and money
The message contains links or attachments
You feel pressured to act quickly
They ask you to pay in an unusual or specific way
They ask you to set up new accounts or Pay ID
What should I do if I think I’ve been scammed?
Contact your bank and report the scam. Ask them to stop transactions and stop sending any money.
Report the scam to Scamwatch here and make an official complaint to police here.
Watch out for follow up scams, particularly ones promising they can get your money back. Scamwatch warned one in three victims of a scam are scammed more than once.
Lastly, get support for yourself. You can talk to a financial counsellor or reach out to BeyondBlue on 1300 22 4636 or here for an online chat or Lifeline for crisis support online here on 13 11 14.
You can also contact IDCARE to “reduce the harm they experience from the compromise and misuse of their identity information by providing effective response and mitigation”.
