Woman charged after Scot duped out of thousands in romance fraud

The 51-year-old from Banchory was duped out of hundreds of thousands of pounds by the woman.

8th Jul 2021

A woman has been charged in connection with romance fraud after a Scot was duped out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The 64-year-old, who lives in England, allegedly duped a 51-year-old woman from Banchory of a six-figure sum of money.

A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal and she is expected to appear at Court at a later date.

Police have urged other victims of romance fraud to come forward.

Detective Inspector Martyn Thomson, of the Divisional Cyber Enabled Crime Team in North East Division, said: “Organised Crime Groups go to great lengths to manipulate and exploit the most vulnerable within our communities by means of gaining a person’s affection, and thereafter use that goodwill to encourage the victim to send money to the scammer under false pretences, with a view to them benefiting financially.

“It’s very easy to fall victim to romance fraud, with people understandably reluctant to come forward and report it. However, I would strongly urge that if you are a victim that you report the matter to police.

“My message to the scammers is clear, if you engage in this type of crime we will identify, trace and arrest you.

“North East Division recently implemented the specialist Divisional Cyber Enabled Crime Team in response to tackling such criminality and as today’s arrest demonstrates, we are fully committed to bringing offenders to justice to further safeguard our communities.

“If you suspect you have been a victim of fraud, please contact Police Scotland on 101.”