A little over a year ago, John Rousakis, a 43-year-old Briton, met a certain Esther Anderson, a so-called Canadian nurse, on a dating site, ”match.com” , and falls in love with his dream physique, report the Mirror and Capital.
After many exchanges, the pretty brunette (with the doctored photo) asks him for the first time to help her financially. He falls into the trap and sends her 400 pounds sterling, or about 480 euros, every month, convinced that this is the only solution to keep her with him. “I always help people around me,” he explained, while this gesture also put him in difficulty.
Yet with an IQ of more than 135 and a master’s degree in engineering and robotics, he will gradually be fleeced by the splendid creature, with whom he multiplies video calls (with filters) and promises of meeting.
A history of smuggling in Africa
Things get tough when she tells him to go to Africa as a volunteer to help children and build hospitals there. She then explains to him that she was imprisoned in Ghana for a story of smuggling gold and needing money to pay the court costs to get out and pay back the stolen gold.
In total, the forties will take out four loans and even ask for money -80,000 pounds, or no less than 95,500 euros- from his father. He will send 160,000 pounds, or about 191,000 euros, to the young woman.
He recovered 67,000 euros
Since discovering the truth, he has been able to recover 67,000 euros from Barclays bank, which has admitted part of his responsibility. “It can happen to anyone, these scams are very sophisticated,” assured the company. But for the rest the money was sent to an account outside the UK and appears to be lost. John Rousakis still appealed to the Financial Ombudsman Service, a mediation service, to try to get his hands on the rest of the money lent. 124,000 euros all the same!