Dating fraudsters use fake banks to trap lovers

Kirsty, a florist from North Yorkshire, lost £80,000 in a dating scam

Criminals have used fake banks to steal £80,000 from a woman in a dating scam, a BBC investigation has revealed.

Kirsty, a florist from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, met a man online and was eventually persuaded to access his online bank to move his money around for him.

However, the bank website was fake and when it appeared to “freeze” his account, he blamed her and persuaded her to transfer her money to him instead.

“They've taken everything I've got, everything I've earned, everything I've built," she told BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme.

Kirsty, 42, is a single mum with four children.

Recently divorced, she was persuaded to try online dating by friends.

She was contacted by a man with dark hair and blue eyes who won her trust by describing himself as a wealthy businessman.

Soon they started talking on the phone and he told her he was about to go on a trip to Turkey on business.

After three days of silence, he contacted her again and said he had been in an accident.

“He sent me a picture of him in the hospital, in a hospital gown, saying that he was really unwell," she said.

"His car had been hijacked. He was pulled out of the car and beaten up."

The man told Kirsty he needed help paying his hospital bills but crucially, unlike more traditional dating scams, he did not ask for her money.

Instead, he gave her what he said was his online bank details so she could set up a payment for him.

When Kirsty logged in, she was greeted by what appeared to be a web page of a legitimate account with a company called Regional Bank PLC.

This web page is still active although BBC investigations have revealed it is fake.

The Regional Bank PLC website Kirsty was asked to use has been proven to be fake but is still live

It showed his balance as $600,000, with several transactions pending, and many completed.

“I thought I'd done the right thing, I thought I'd helped somebody,” Kirsty said.

On his request, she repeated the same process, going into what appeared to be his online bank, to make other payments worth several thousands of pounds.

Her confidence and trust in him was growing.

But when the man asked her to go back into the account to check one of the payments, the website told her she was “locked out” of the account.

In a phone call, the man’s mood turned completely.

“He went mad and he blamed me. He just went crazy,” she said.

After the man later apologised, he asked if Kirsty could send her own money to settle the £5,000 bill he needed to pay, reassuring her she would be repaid when the bank account was unfrozen.

“I was so nervous, I was the most scared I think I've ever been,” she said.

But the man eased her concerns, reminding her he had already given her access to his own bank account.

“He was so grateful and thankful,” she said.

But the manipulation and requests for money continued, until the total reached £80,000.

Kirsty had borrowed £50,000 of that from her parents and sister, all the time believing the man would reimburse her.

'Black hole'

At one point, she also bought him a phone that she sent to him in Cyprus and paid for what he said would be a flight home – even travelling to the airport to pick him up, though he never arrived.

Eventually, Kirsty accessed his account on his instructions to try to repay herself but to this day, the payment shows as pending on the site.

In doing this, she also entered her own bank details.

As a result, two weeks ago, she was targeted by fraudsters again who posed on phone as her bank, using the details she had entered on the site to persuade her to move a further £80,0000.

By now, Kirsty had realised she had been conned.

“My heart just exploded. I just felt like I was in a black hole.

“I couldn't reason with myself. I couldn't understand myself. I couldn't understand what had happened, what I'd done.”

The BBC understands images of the man Kirsty believed she was dating have been used on multiple dating scam victims.

Kirsty’s bank account is with Tide which she said never contacted her, despite the large transactions, to question where the money was going.

Tide said it “operates under the provision that the member is liable for a payment they’ve authorised”.

It said it was sorry for her “loss and distress” as a result of the “sophisticated fraud”, adding that it could not comment further because the matter was currently with the Financial Ombudsman.

North Yorkshire Police has been approached for comment.

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