'Romance fraudster made me feel good'

Berna Ireland, from Wolverhampton, started speaking to someone four years ago and says she came very close to giving him several thousand pounds

A woman who nearly fell victim to romance fraud is urging people to make sure they know who they are speaking to online.

Berna Ireland, from Wolverhampton, started speaking to someone four years ago and says she came very close to giving him several thousand pounds.

However, Ms Ireland said she began to feel pressured and alerted police who stepped in.

Since 2019, reports of this type of crime to Action Fraud in the West Midlands have risen from 174 cases to 339.

Ms Ireland, from Chapel Ash, said she was contacted through an online game by a man who claimed to be a US soldier in Afghanistan.

After getting to know him over a couple of weeks, she offered to send him a care package, but he said he could not receive them but could she send a gift card instead.

She said she was "a bit dubious about it" but he had been sympathetic and "made me feel good".

Photos from barracks

She had also worked as a nurse previously and dealt with injured soldiers, so felt a connection with him.

She had also been going through a rough patch in her marriage at the time and he gave her companionship and built up her confidence, she said.

He had shared photos of himself with his daughter and at his "barracks" and when she searched for him online what he said matched his profile.

But he then asked her to login to his bank as him as he said he could not access his bank accounts.

Despite saying she felt that would be fraudulent, she reluctantly did as he asked and saw there were six figures in his account. He then asked her to make a payment using his account.

"Everything was going through fine until it was 'pay'," she said.

"Then it came up with a block, [it said] 'we have to find out your identity' or something."

He told her to message the so-called bank that was asking for the identity check to say what she was doing which she did, but was then told they could not release the funds until a certain amount was paid.

'Scam not in mind'

"It was quite a big sum, a couple of grand and I was like, 'I haven't got that money?'," she added.

"Then I started getting the messages off both him and the supposed bank."

He reassured her he could pay her back "threefold" as she could see how much money was in his account.

"I don't think the word scam came to my mind but I was uneasy. I was not happy about it and I felt pressured," she added.

"I think if I had had the money and it hadn't have been a problem, I don't think I would have thought twice about it."

After being "constantly bombarded" by him and the "bank" she felt it was not right and contacted police who began investigating.

Looking back she felt "a bit silly", but "when you're in the heat of the moment... you just don't stop and think", she said.