'My fake Kenyan bride-to-be scammed me out of £85k'

Rodrick Lodge, 69, has been left homeless after losing his life savings to a scam

A vulnerable widower has been left homeless and "truly suffering" after being hoodwinked into sending £85,000 to a woman who never existed.

Rodrick Lodge, 69, was living in Leiston, Suffolk, when a friend he had met three years before in Kenya put him in contact with a "woman" named Anita.

After building a relationship over social media, he felt himself falling in love for the first time since the death of his wife Pauline in 2019, and he later agreed to move to Nairobi to marry her.

But what Mr Lodge was actually falling for was an elaborate scam, which would eventually see his entire life savings drained from his bank and leave him with nothing.

Mr Lodge with his late wife Pauline, who died in 2019

"She said she had a four-bedroom house but to get married I would need to give her a dowry, so I agreed to do up her house for her, that was the agreement," said Mr Lodge, who previously lived in Surrey.

"So, I started sending her money for various parts for the home and she would send me pictures of the house being upgraded, as well as other intimate pictures.

"She told me she was the managing director of a beauty products company which had about 30 employees, so I thought she was a woman with substance."

Mr Lodge only realised what had happened when the time came for him to finally fly out to Kenya to unite with who he thought was his new love and bride-to-be.

But when he landed at the airport, she was nowhere to be found, and his desperate attempts to meet up with her were met with excuses after excuses.

Mr Lodge was left feeling vulnerable following the death of his wife, Pauline

After doing some digging, Mr Lodge realised the woman pretending to be Anita was actually his friend who had first put them in contact with each other.

"The agreement was that we'd properly meet in Nairobi, but that never happened and it turned out to be a scam and Anita never existed," added the former United Nations worker.

"She is the worst of the worst, but I was an idiot and a fool, I know that, and now I am paying the terrible cost of that. I truly believe she existed. I'm embarrassed."

After flying back to the UK, Mr Lodge slept rough in Heathrow Airport for three days. He is now living in a homeless shelter in Woking and said he had little hope for the future.

Mr Lodge said: "After losing my wife, the most important person in my life, I was so vulnerable because I wanted a partner and quality of life.

"Now this has ruined my future life - I've got no life now and I have got nothing to get up for. I have no family, only a few friends who call me an idiot.

"I am truly suffering because I have got zero. It has taken every penny I had and so I truly hope this evil woman rots in hell - I'm sorry to say that, but I really do."

Martin Richardson, senior partner at Richardson Hartley Law, which specialises in fraud recovery, said: “This is such a sad story. Mr Lodge was in a vulnerable position and was taken advantage of.

“Romance scams are particularly cruel because the victim not only suffers financially but also suffers emotionally.

“We feel the bank from which Mr Lodge transferred his savings should have asked more questions as to what he was up to. Banks have a responsibility to prevent their customers falling victim to fraud, particularly if they are vulnerable.

“Mr Lodge’s life has been devastated by this fraud but we are doing everything we can to recover his money.”

The UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, Action Fraud, has issued advice on how to spot a "romance scam".

It said it was important, no matter how long you have spoken to someone you have not met in person, that you do not send them money.

It also warned against allowing bank access, taking a loan out for them, providing copies of personal documents or agreeing to receive or send parcels on their behalf.

Victims of a romance scam should contact their bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud, via actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.