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So-called romance scams are a growing problem. In the documentary, three Swedish women tell how they were tricked by scammers in search of love.
In a typical case, the victim is courted by a fake identity online. The scammer uses scripts to cultivate contact. The goal is for the victim to fall in love, to the extent that when the fraudster asks for money, the victim will have a hard time saying no.
“It felt like a relationship”
Lena tells in “Cheated on Love and Millions” about how, after she was dumped, she created a profile on a dating site.
Soon she began an online relationship with a man named Alfred. He claimed to be a civil engineer from England, with roots in Sweden. Lena examined it and everything seemed to be going well.
– It felt like a relationship. We were in love in some strange way even though we had never met, says Lena in the documentary.
Do not feel ashamed
The man who called himself Alfred claimed he had temporary financial problems. Only Lena could help her and she would soon get her money back. But she ended up in personal bankruptcy and was forced to sell her apartment.
Now, in hindsight, he is not ashamed of what happened.
– The more I have told my friends and other people that I really felt I wanted to tell, the easier it felt.
The scammers are abroad
The perpetrators are abroad. The documentary shows a gang of scammers operating out of Ghana.
Last year, 993 romantic frauds were reported to the police in Sweden. In the 97 reports that came in during January this year, each victim lost an average of 370,000 Swedish crowns, SVT reports.
Crimes are difficult to solve and have a settlement rate of basically zero, according to police.
The documentary can be seen on SVT Play and SVT1 on September 10.
