Elders in the Tucson area targeted by "romantic crooks" online | Local news

Many seniors in the Tucson area who thought they had found love online had their hopes crushed when their lovers turned out to be foreign crooks who only wanted their money, said the attorney general of the 39; Arizona. 90 – seven from Tucson, one from Sahuarita and the Oro Valley – were on the cusp of giving thousands of dollars to online lovers when state investigators infiltrated to prevent transfers .

Ghana, a country in West Africa described by Arizona authorities as "a hot bed of Internet fraud", used a combination of gossip and bloody stories to seduce the inhabitants of America

. "In which" the scammers claim to be romantically interested in their victims, only to incite them to send money abroad, "said the Arizona Attorney General 's Office, Mark Brnovich. in a recent statement announcing kedown.

"Scammers often spend weeks building relationships with a victim before asking for money for a medical procedure or trip to meet in person." [19659002] A common feature of crooks is that they move in quickly, professing love or proposing marriage shortly after initial contact.

The nine locals who were victimized did not surrender that they had until they tried to send money to their lovers online would not pbad because the authorities had already obtained a warrant to block them after discovering this that the crooks were doing.

Victims were then redirected to a call center consisting of state investigators who broke the bad news. In total, state authorities intercepted $ 14,000 on behalf of the nine local victims and six other people living in the state.

This is not the first time that local seniors are targeted by swindle swindlers

. "Said Rae Vermeal of the Pima Council on Aging, who has worked with law enforcement, financial institutions and other agencies on ways to tackle the problem.

Older people generally feel "deeply ashamed and embarrbaded" by love scams, she said. Some worry when friends and relatives of real life are trying to intervene to stop payments.

"It is very sad because it has more impact on the elderly than on the loss of money," Vermeal said. Victims of scams often descend afterwards and suffer from depression and higher death rates, she says.

Brnovich said, "Fraudsters who feed on people's emotions are using these online scams more frequently.You should always be cautious when you meet someone online, especially if you're just coming in. another country. "