Woman who sent £61,000 to boyfriend she never met devastated after discovering the truth about him

A woman discovered she had unwittingly paid her fraudulent boyfriend $80,000 (£61,000) before realizing that their relationship was a complete sham and she had fallen victim to a scam.

You're familiar with the term 'catfishing,' aren't you? No, not the aquatic creature, but rather the act of assuming someone else's identity online by using their pictures.

The term itself has no connection to shipping cod across the Atlantic Ocean, and the more you try to explain it, the less sense it seems to make. However, let's all agree that it refers to deceiving someone through a fabricated online persona.

Now, let's return to the story of the woman who, without ever meeting him in person, ended up paying a significant amount of money to a man named Ricardo whom she had encountered on Facebook Messenger.

He informed her that he was affluent and seeking someone to pamper, mentioning that although he hailed from Los Angeles, his professional commitments confined him to Montreal, Canada, preventing them from meeting in person.

Their connection grew rapidly, confessing their love for each other and engaging in multiple phone conversations throughout the day.

Around a month into their relationship, Ricardo solicited Terri to invest $10,000 (£7,600) in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, assuring her that she would become a millionaire within six months.

Over time, Terri ended up sending approximately $80,000, despite her family expressing concerns and attempting to convince her that this entire situation was a scam.

Terri acknowledged that there were always excuses whenever they planned to meet up, and her sister, Tammy, sought the assistance of Dr. Phil to shed light on the situation. Throughout the episode, Terri stubbornly insisted on her belief in Ricardo's authenticity.

Upon investigation, the show uncovered the truth that Ricardo was, in fact, a man named James who had never interacted with Terri.

James turned out to be the individual whose photos were stolen by the catfish, and he revealed that this was not the first instance of his identity being exploited in such a manner.

During a recorded video segment, he conveyed to Dr. Phil that he had been grappling with this issue for more than a decade, hoping that people would comprehend that scammers were misusing his pictures, and that he was not involved in their deceitful activities.

Terri, on the other hand, expressed feeling "heartbroken" upon discovering that Ricardo was a scammer. Nevertheless, she made it clear that she did not hold James responsible and asserted that she would not resort to violence if she ever encountered him in person.

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