Whirlwind internet romance turns nasty
The conversations, which ran late into the night, quickly became filled with words of love and romance seemed to bloom, all in a mere four days.
TALL, dark and handsome is definitely a sweet deal when you are over the age of 60, especially if you are single and ready to mingle.
It seems as though that was all it took for a local woman to accept a stranger’s Facebook friend request, a request which nearly cost her R8 149.
The woman, who spoke to the Mid South Coast Mail last Friday on condition of anonymity, said that the scam started off so innocently.
“Ken Mark sent me a friend request on Facebook, saying that he liked the way I look and that he would like to get to know me,” she explained.
The conversations, which ran late into the night, quickly became filled with words of love and romance seemed to bloom, all in a mere four days.
“He told me about his life in Liverpool in the United Kingdom and how he works for a shipping company,” she went on. “He started sending me messages throughout the day, asking me how I was, and if I had eaten. His concern for me seemed very real and caring. I feel like a fool for having been played like this.”
Ken told her that he was soon going to Turkey for a short trip and that he would do some shopping for her. “He said that he had bought me an Apple iPhone, handbags and gold necklaces. He would be shipping them to me later that day, along with £200 000 sterling.
“He contacted me a few days later on WhatsApp, saying that the parcel had been sent. However, he added I would need to transfer R1 850 into his bank account as the company required that the payment be made in rands and not pounds.
“Needless to say, I was feeling that R1 850 was pocket change, as I was about to be £200 000 richer, so I transferred the money,” she said.
The next day she received an email from a Mr Raymond, purporting to work for a company called Infinity Express Courier Services, which requested that a payment of R6 299 be made so as to have her parcel registered according to RSA regulations, so that it could be sent to her faster.
Sensing a scam, she quickly contacted her bank and the police.
“I would like to warn people to not make the same mistake as I did, no matter how promising or believable the person seems.”
Ken has since unfriended her on Facebook, although he did ask her how she was doing last Friday morning.
