New series. Lucy Owen, Rachel Treadaway-Williams and Omar Hamdi investigate the scams, chase down the fraudsters and come up with the best advice for spending and saving.
X-ray returns with a new series. Lucy Owen visits one of Wales鈥� most popular visitor attractions, Portmeirion, to find out how best to find a holiday bargain, and avoid the scammers selling bogus holidays. Rachel Treadaway-Williams meets the woman who was conned into giving a dating fraudster forty thousand pounds. And with the clock ticking, Omar Hamdi has advice on beating the PPI deadline.
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Romance Fraud woman conned out of 拢40,000
A woman who suspected her mother was being scammed online later sent the fraudster 拢40,000, ending up heavily in debt.
The married mother of one from South East Wales 鈥� who does not want to be identified 鈥� is a victim of a crime which police say grew by nearly a third last year.
The woman said she had first made contact with the man after her mother got involved in an online relationship with him.
She said her mother had been lonely and then started the online relationship. But when the man 鈥� who said he was French and called Jean Marc 鈥� told her he needed help after being robbed on a business trip to Ivory Coast, she became suspicious.
鈥淚 said to my mum that don't you dare send him any money. I said he's a scammer,鈥� she said.
But her opinion changed after he spoke to the man herself.
鈥淗is voice was so lovely. So soft. He started with his stories and my heart just melted,鈥� she said.
She asked many searching questions about his circumstances but Jean Marc had answers for all of them.
She explained: 鈥淚 sent him the first money. I didn't even tell my mum, I did it because I wanted her to be happy.鈥�
She sent 800Euros last summer 鈥� and went on to make a total of 21 further payments totalling 拢40,000 until she realised she had been scammed. She is now heavily in debt and has little hope of seeing her money again. The hardest part of the ordeal was telling her husband.
鈥淚 just couldn't cope - it was killing that he didn't know. I thought that's going to be the end of our marriage,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 just felt like I was emotionally blackmailed. I hope whoever is watching this programme that they will think twice before they believe in all the lies of the scammers.鈥�
The man calling himself Jean Marc had used the identity of a Frenchman - Stephane Girynowicz.听 His identity has been stolen by the scammers and has been used in numerous scams. There are even Facebook pages dedicated to exposing the latest identities that his pictures have been used on.
PC Neil Cooper of Gwent Police said: 鈥淚t's easier nowadays to steal money sitting behind a computer screen than it was in the bad old days to go out and burgle somebody's house - it's far easier.听
鈥淚t's so anonymous.听 The effect it has on the victims is devastating - it affects their lives, it makes them depressed, it makes them feel totally foolish. It's a really despicable act to do.鈥�
Action Fraud, the police fraud reporting centre, say reports of romance fraud rose by 27% in 2018.
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Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Omar Hamdi |
| Presenter | Lucy Owen |
| Presenter | Rachel Treadaway-Williams |
| Series Producer | Susie Phillips |
| Executive Producer | Samantha Rosie |