Tag:
Romance Scam
Paramus, NJ
News
Ex-BF Swindled Bergen County Realtor Out Of $71K: Lawsuit
Christina LaBarbiera remembers watching the hit Netflix show "Tinder Swindler" and thinking what happened to those women could never happen to her. Until it did, she says. The show follows a group of women who say they met a man on the popular dating app Tinder, who swindled them out of millions of dollars collectively. And they want justice. LaBarbiera, a 35-year-old realtor with Christie's International from Bergen County, says her story isn't all that different. UPDATE: Robert Harris was lodged in the Bergen County Jail on Monday, March 18, records show. Last November, she …
Quincy, MA
Police & Fire
Taunton Romance Scammer Must Repay Victims $1.1M, Spend 2 Years In Prison: Feds
A Taunton man who conned several people into giving him more than $1 million must repay his victims once he gets out of prison, a judge ruled on Thursday, Jan. 21. Francis Okafor, 30, was sentenced to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said. He must also pay $1.1 million in restitution to his victims. Investigators said Okafor swindled people from May 2018 through August 2021 using a "romance scam." He faked relationships with them to manipulate them out of money. Okafor used foreign passports in the na…
Drexel Hill-Upper Darby, PA
Police & Fire
Nigerian Fraudsters Used Romance Scam Vic To Try Stealing $13M From PA Schools: DA
Detectives intercepted a plan to steal more than $13 million from a Pennsylvania school district, authorities announced Friday, Aug. 26. Fraudsters in Nigeria apparently hacked the Chester Upland School District's email system in 2021 and sent emails to the Department of Education requesting a payment change, 6abc reports citing Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer. A woman in Florida was apparently the victim of an online romance scam involving individuals in Nigeria, who convinced her to move the stolen money to accounts overseas, authorities said. The treasurer'…
Fair Lawn-Glen Rock, NJ
News
Lookin
' FOR
Love
: Police Detective Sniffs Out Online Scam That Victimized Glen Rock Man, Others
A Glen Rock detective was in for a surprise when he traced an online scam that victimized a local man to a woman in Washington State. It turns out that person got scammed herself. Before he was done, Glen Rock Police Detective Sgt. James Calaski found three other victims who got taken by a money launderer who lives in Africa, Police Chief Dean Ackermann said. All of them were apparently looking for love. The con man had developed a virtual relationship with the 65-year-old Washington State woman, convincing her that he was a contractor flipping houses in Texas, Ackermann said. He the…
Mount Pleasant, NY
Police & Fire
Young Hudson Valley Man Falls Victim To Romance Scam, Loses Thousands
Police are investigating a case where a young man fell victim to a romance scam. The woman in Rockland County told the man she was corresponding with through a dating app she needed some financial assistance with a business matter, Ramapo Police said. The woman said she would mail him a check to deposit into his bank account, and that he needed to mail back a check for a lesser amount – in essence, he was allowed to keep the difference for his trouble. Days later, his bank contacted him saying that the check he deposited was bogus. He is now out several thousand dollars, Ramapo Polic…
Wilton, CT
Police & Fire
Romance Scammer Nabbed Picking Up Cash In Wilton, Police Say
A 28-year-old man was nabbed for allegedly taking part in a romance scam in order to steal money from unsuspecting would-be lovers. Olutade Adeyemi Gboyega, of Stamford, was arrested on Friday, May 3, by Wilton Police after receiving a call from the Wilton Post Office about a possible shipment of a large amount of money to a vacant house in Wilton, which was linked to a romance scam in Mississippi, said Wilton Police Lt. Robert Kluk. The scam involves the suspect meeting the victim on a dating website and after gaining their trust through a fake relationship they are able to obtain personal…
