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Man, 75, gave £20,000 to ‘online girlfriend’ who used pictures
of porn star Lucy MiddletonSunday 25 Nov 2018 3:41 pm
A retired dentist was scammed out of £20,000 after fraudsters
used images of an American porn star to entice him into a fake
relationship.
Simon Frost, from Soham Cambridgshire, matched with beautiful
‘Eva’, from Ghana, on an online dating site called Real Sex
Contacts in February 2017. The 75-year-old was then persuaded to
part with thousands of pounds after the pair embarked on what he
described as a ‘real relationship’.
Simon Frost was tricked out of £20,000 online (Picture: SWNS)
But after sending Eva thousands of pounds and even paying for her
to fly to the UK, the pensioner discovered that the romance had all
been faked. The images he had been sent of his online girlfriend
were in fact photographs of US porn star Briana Lee, used without
her knowledge.
‘ ‘I genuinely believed the relationship was real,’ Mr Frost
said. ‘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.’ Fraudsters used
pictures of porn star Briana Lee to entice Mr Frost (Picture:
realbrilee/Instagram) Mr Frost was introduced to Eva, supposedly a
hospital worker from Accra, two months after he signed up the site.
The pensioner said that the pair called each other ‘babe’ and
‘husband’ and even talked of buying a house together in the near
future.
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Over the course of their relationship, Eva told Mr Frost that she
needed money to access court documents that would allow her to
access her late father’s £5million inheritance.
As a result, he sent £6,000 from his savings, £3,000 on credit
cards and two £5,000 advances from payday loan company Amigo –
which come with a whopping 45 per cent interest rate. He also paid
£1,600 for her flight to the UK in August this year, but realised
he had been scammed when she failed to show up and he was unable to
contact her.
‘I was sold a complete sob story and was completely used,’ said
Mr Frost, who became so stressed by the ordeal he contemplated
killing himself. He had believed that they were in love (Picture:
realbrilee/Instagram) The retired dentist believed the relationship
was real (Picture: SWNS) ‘I believed everything she said. I thought
I’d be able to clear my debts and we’d be able to enjoy the money
and buy a house together. ‘But she clearly had no intention of
coming here. I was lonely, and I still am, and I was looking for
company.
‘Eva seemed genuine. But I was obviously an easy target.’ Mr
Frost has now been forced to pay £595 a month for two years to
clear his debts. His bank account has been frozen as a result of
the suspicious transactions to Ghana, meaning his daughter is also
currently supporting him and paying his bills.
The scam has been reported to Police and Action Fraud but since
it happened outside of the UK, Mr Frost has been told it is
‘unlikely’ he will get his money back. The 75-year-old has been
told it is ‘unlikely’ he will get he money back (Picture: SWNS) Mr
Frost said that he accepts responsibility for what happened and now
wants to make sure other people aren’t scammed in the same way. ‘I
have been treated appallingly.
If I wasn’t so strong minded I could have been made seriously
mentally ill,’ he said. ‘No deal’ Brexit if MPs don’t back Theresa
May’s plan, says Juncker ‘I am a pretty strong person but this left
me very upset.’ After hearing that scammers were using her picture,
porn star Briana Lee expressed her sympathies towards Mr Frost.
‘Unfortunately I’ve heard this same story many times,’ the adult
model said. ‘I’m terribly sorry this person took advantage of this
old man. I’d suggest never sending large amounts of money to
someone you’ve never met.’
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