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rynner2

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Jail for lonely-hearts conwoman

A woman who conned tens of thousands of pounds from men she met through newspaper and internet dating sites has been jailed for two years.
Emma Golightly, from Meadowfield Gardens in Walkerville, Newcastle, claimed to be a wealthy businesswoman.

The 22-year-old, who even convinced one man she had cancer so he would marry her, used her victims' credit cards to fund her lavish lifestyle.

She was jailed after admitting theft and obtaining property by deception.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that her 18-month crime spree included more than 80 offences and was worth £254,000.

The cash was spent on holidays, fast cars, shoes and beauty treatments.

Lavish gifts

Golightly told one of the men that she had terminal cancer and did not want to die an unmarried woman.

She then took him on an £8,000 honeymoon, which he was unaware was paid for using his credit card.

A year later, she arranged another wedding with another man, and again paid for it with his credit card without his knowledge, the court heard.

Judge David Wood told Golightly: "Over a period of quite a long time you befriended a number of men and pretended to them you were rich, terminally ill and in need of a husband.

"You encouraged them by offering lavish gifts whilst all the time you had stolen their cheque books or credit cards and were using them for your own advantage."

He accepted that she was suffering from a personality disorder but said the offences of theft, deception and attempted deception were so serious that only custody could be justified.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/6313617.stm
SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/6313617.stm
 
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Lets hear it for all those fantastic men in the country who were willing to make a millionairess with a terminal condition happy!

They just did they knew how much it would hurt them!

Brings tears to your eyes, it does. :cry:
 
there's more!
SERIAL BRIDE TRIED TO SNARE ANOTHER VICTIM WHILE SHE WAS ON TRIAL
WOMAN JAILED IN £250k SCAM


By Jeremy Armstrong
A CONWOMAN who tried to fleece a string of lovers out of over £250,000 attempted to dupe another even while on trial, it emerged yesterday.

Serial bride Emma Golightly, 22, was given two years' jail yesterday after more than 100 offences in an 18-month web of deceit.

Yet in between court appearances for swindling five victims, the brazen liar was lining up No6 after meeting him on a dating site.

She made the 30-year-old fall for her and fibbed that her family was rich but she was mourning her mum's cancer death.

The man, too embarrassed to give his name, said: "She said I was her rock and she wouldn't have been able to cope without me.

"People may think me stupid to take these lies in, but you do when you're trusting and think you've found the perfect woman."

They regularly phoned and texted one another but never met as she stood him up on dates. He went on: "She seemed a loving, caring, fun, full-of-life girl. I can understand how these men were duped."

The blonde seduced victims with sob stories after snaring them online or in lonely hearts ads. She wed one and tricked another into a sham marriage after claiming she was dying of cancer and dreamt of being a bride.

She also posed as a millionaire.

However, Golightly, of Newcastle, would get hold of their credit cards and cheque books and run up huge bills on holidays, cars, posh hotels and top restaurants.

She bought men lavish gifts with their own cash and tried to order a £78,000 Porsche for one. The conwoman also tried to pay for a £66,000 Range Rover and a £42,000 Land Rover.

Her scams would have totalled £254,000. Even her family were not safe and she defrauded her mum and gran's credit cards.

Her deception began in December 2004 when she wed Chris Williams, 33, in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. By the time he kicked her out in April 2005 she had taken him for £20,000.

Weeks later she moved in with new lover Andrew Norris, who later found large sums missing from his bank account.

By October 2005 she was arranging her marriage to victim No3 Colin Fitton but did not book a registrar for the ceremony because she was still wed to Mr Williams.

She then turned to Stephen Bell, who had her arrested after an £88,000 credit card bill.

Yet while on bail she lured victim No5, Richard Sutherland, who also called police when he found money missing.

Golightly admitted 17 offences, including theft, deception and attempted deception, with 88 others taken into consideration. Her lawyer Peter Schofield told Newcastle crown court she needed help for "a deeply unpleasant personality disorder".

But Judge David Wood said: "These offences are so serious only custody can be justified."

http://tinyurl.com/3agcat
SOURCE: http://tinyurl.com/3agcat
 
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On dating sites, there's a rash of scammers who send fulsome flattering emails, then claim that they're serving in Iraq (with the US army or marines) and that they're coming home in few months, and they're looking for a good woman to settle down with...

I've seen some that a friend's had, she reports them to the site admins straight off.
 
British scientist jailed for four years for smuggling cocaine 'after being stung by honeytrap'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ytrap.html

An acclaimed British scientist caught smuggling 4.4lbs of cocaine at a South American airport has been jailed for nearly five years.

Professor Paul Frampton, 68, claimed he was duped into carrying the drugs in a ‘honeytrap sting’ involving a bikini model.

But the Oxford-educated academic was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison after being convicted of drug trafficking at a court in Argentina.

Mr Frampton, originally from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, was arrested in January after being stopped at Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires as he tried to board a plane to Peru with the large quantity of drugs in his luggage.

The cocaine was found wrapped in gift paper hidden inside the lining of his suitcase.

The divorced physicist told police he had been tricked into carrying the drugs by gangsters who posed on the internet as 32-year-old glamour model Denise Milani.

She had nothing to do with the drug smuggling.

He said in a newspaper interview after his arrest: ‘Perhaps I should have realised earlier but the fraudster was very good and very intelligent.

‘For 11 weeks I thought I was chatting with an attractive woman.’

Mr Frampton, who was teaching at the University of North Carolina, had first travelled to La Paz, Bolivia, where he thought he was going to meet Miss Milani, a former Miss Bikini World, for the first time.

He mistakenly believed he had been chatting regularly with her over the internet after allegedly meeting on dating website mate1.com and had planned to start a new life with her.

In La Paz he met a middle-aged man in a hotel who gave him the suitcase, saying it belonged to Miss Milani.

The following day he travelled to Buenos Aires and was instructed to fly to Brussels where he believed he would finally meet his ‘girlfriend’.

But after waiting 36 hours at the airport for ‘her’ to send him an electronic ticket, he changed his mind and decided to return to the U.S. via Peru.


Thanks to the Daily Mail for providing photos of the very healthy Miss Milani
 
'Sugar daddy' serial conman jailed for seven years
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-22617609

Price fleeced £172,533 from his victims

A conman who fleeced more than £170,000 out of women he met on a website for "sugar daddies" has been jailed.

Jonathan Price, 41, whose latest address was near Darlington, used the website to trick women and their families into giving him money.

The court heard how he posed as a super-wealthy businessman and also pretended he was dying to gain £172,533 from his victims.

He was jailed for seven years at Teesside Crown court on Tuesday.

Judge Howard Crowson said Price was "selfish" and had "preyed" on the vulnerability of victims who were seeking love and companionship.

The court heard how after convincing his victims he had millions in offshore accounts, he managed to borrow thousands from them and their parents by claiming he had cash flow problems and that he would repay them once the issues were resolved.

He would then vanish after claiming to be terminally ill with a brain tumour and move in with another woman, who he had already been developing as a potential victim.

Price claimed to have a white Rolls Royce, to have been a Paratrooper and even in the SAS, the court heard.

Peter Sabiston, defending, previously told the court: "He is unsure because of the lies he has told, what is true and what is fantasy. He does seem to lead a life of fantasy."

'A safe bet'
He fleeced £24,000 from the parents of a woman in her 30s from Bournemouth for life-prolonging cancer treatments he pretended he needed, before bankrupting a 38-year-old woman in London after spending about £20,000 on her credit card.

While he was with her, Price had started to target a chemist from County Durham to whom he proposed to after chatting to her online.

The pair got married but later divorced after Price defrauded her out of £72,000 and her parents out of a further £7,000.

She had his baby last year.

The court heard how Price would produce false bank statements to convince the women and their families he had a fortune abroad.

He also tricked a businessman into becoming his personal financial manager, and fooled estate agents and a boat dealer.

Mr Sabiston told the court Price realised he may never see his child again, and accepts he has "damaged some people very badly and caused a lot of hardship to people he was very close to".
 
Towcester property swindle couple jailed

A married couple from Northamptonshire who posed as wealthy high fliers have been jailed for a multi-million pound property swindle.
Richard Jerome posed as an international financier and created a £3.5m fraud in which he tried to buy a luxury home.
He and his wife Hazel, of Watling Street Towcester, posed as rich ex pats who had returned from Barbados. ...

Mr Jerome, who also claimed to be a policeman, targeted rich professional single women along the way.

He used aliases to go on dating websites to attract rich women telling them he was a multi millionaire with global business interests and a £1m a year income.

He duped an experienced woman financier into investing $100,000 and a headmistress he also dated after meeting on the web into handing over £10,000. ...

They aimed to persuade the owners to let them move in while the deal was being closed as funds were transferred from abroad - but there was no money - and the couple became middle class squatters who refused to budge or pay rent.

They had previously been convicted for doing the same thing as they squatted in high value homes around the UK. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-be ... s-24588817
 
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'Dead' con woman Juliet Clarke tricked boyfriends

A woman who claimed to have terminal cancer - and later pretended to be dead - to con money from her boyfriends, has been given a suspended jail sentence.
Juliet Clarke also tried to dupe one man after he ended their relationship, by claiming she had given birth to his premature twins.

The 31-year-old, of Lawhitton near Launceston, Cornwall, admitted three counts of fraud.
Judge Paul Darlow jailed Clarke for 10 months, suspended for two years.
She was also ordered to pay £2,000 compensation to the men she defrauded.

Prosecutor Jenny Cater earlier told the hearing at Plymouth Crown Court that Clarke dated her first victim for six months in 2011.
She convinced him she was dying and borrowed money from him while waiting for a fictional £250,000 inheritance from her grandmother.
After they split up, he noticed that she had taken nearly £2,000 from his bank account, but when he tried to contact her, Clarke sent him a string of messages pretending to be her father and claiming she had died.

The second victim was a soldier Clarke met via the internet while he was serving in Afghanistan.
She told him she was suffering from ovarian and cervical cancer and asked if she could borrow money for the funeral of a non-existent uncle, claiming various members of her family had died and she was due to inherit £34,000.

The court heard when he finished their relationship, Clarke tried to get money from him by saying she was pregnant with twins.
She claimed a photograph from a 2007 New York Times pregnancy guide showed her swollen stomach and when he started to become suspicious, she said she had given birth to premature twins.
Clarke sent emails announcing the birth of twins with a photo of two premature babies and said she had named the boys Daniel Lee and Ethan Mark.

But the court heard no births were registered, Clarke had never been pregnant - and had been sterilised some years before. :shock:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-25655463

All rather sad, really...
 
Sad indeed. Given the effort involved she didn't make a lot from the cons. She might well have psychological problems.
 
Introducing a word I'd not heard of before...
Plymouth model shocked at finding picture of her body with someone else's face online
By JLewis_Herald | Posted: February 06, 2017

A social media star from Plymouth has spoken of her shock after finding out she has been 'catfished'.
Instagrammer Jessica Hunt found a picture of herself had been altered to put someone else's face on her body, otherwise known as catfished.

In the snap, Jessica poses in her kitchen wearing a super glamorous emerald green dress.
But her tanned face has been replaced with a heavily made-up one - much to her obvious disbelief.

Jessica, who has 80,000 followers on Instagram, took to Twitter to post her dismay, writing: 'OH MY GOD, that is my body and my house but who's face is that? Catfish game is getting silly.'

Despite being horrified that her image had been stolen, Hunt went on to say she admired the seamless Photoshopping at work, saying her image was 'like art'.

Catfishing normally refers to stealing an entire image, often to try and attract online dates by pretending to be someone who a person might deem more physically attractive.
In this instance, though, it was just Jessica's body that was used. The model had originally posed in the sparkly green frock five week ago, walking up and down in her kitchen in a video on Instagram.

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/ply...-face-online/story-30115492-detail/story.html

Pics on page.
 
Introducing a word I'd not heard of before...
Plymouth model shocked at finding picture of her body with someone else's face online
By JLewis_Herald | Posted: February 06, 2017

A social media star from Plymouth has spoken of her shock after finding out she has been 'catfished'.
Instagrammer Jessica Hunt found a picture of herself had been altered to put someone else's face on her body, otherwise known as catfished.

In the snap, Jessica poses in her kitchen wearing a super glamorous emerald green dress.
But her tanned face has been replaced with a heavily made-up one - much to her obvious disbelief.

Jessica, who has 80,000 followers on Instagram, took to Twitter to post her dismay, writing: 'OH MY GOD, that is my body and my house but who's face is that? Catfish game is getting silly.'

Despite being horrified that her image had been stolen, Hunt went on to say she admired the seamless Photoshopping at work, saying her image was 'like art'.

Catfishing normally refers to stealing an entire image, often to try and attract online dates by pretending to be someone who a person might deem more physically attractive.
In this instance, though, it was just Jessica's body that was used. The model had originally posed in the sparkly green frock five week ago, walking up and down in her kitchen in a video on Instagram.

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/ply...-face-online/story-30115492-detail/story.html

Pics on page.

I've heard catfish used more commonly to refer to guys who pretend to be women on social media, I guess faking content is part of that. Guess from this it has a broader meaning.
 
I've heard catfish used more commonly to refer to guys who pretend to be women on social media, I guess faking content is part of that. Guess from this it has a broader meaning.

The documentary Catfish is quite good, IMO.
 
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Introducing a word I'd not heard of before...
Plymouth model shocked at finding picture of her body with someone else's face online
By JLewis_Herald | Posted: February 06, 2017

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/ply...-face-online/story-30115492-detail/story.html

Pics on page.
Should 'catfishing' be made illegal?
By Cherry Wilson BBC News
24 February 2017

Anna Rowe had a whirlwind romance with Antony Ray after meeting him through the dating app Tinder.
But their 14-month relationship came crashing down when she discovered his profile was a fake.
His name was not Antony and he was not single.
In fact, he was a married dad who had initially used photos of a Bollywood actor on his profile and had lured in other women too.

"He used me like a hotel with benefits under the disguise of a romantic, loving relationship that he knew I craved," says Anna.

The practice of using a fake profile to start an online romance is known as "catfishing".
Now Anna, 44, from Kent, has launched a petition calling for it to be made illegal.

But how serious is catfishing and is it practical to make it a crime?

More than half of online dating users say they have come across a fake profile, according to consumer group Which?
While the number of people defrauded in the UK by online dating scams reached a record high in 2016.
There were 3,889 victims of so-called romance fraud last year, who handed over a record £39m.

It has become so prevalent, that it led to the creation of reality TV show Catfish - which is dedicated to helping victims learn the true identity of their online romances.

Currently catfishing is not illegal but elements of the activity could be covered by different parts of the law.
If a victim hands over money, the "catfish" could be prosecuted for fraud.
Someone using a fake profile to post offensive messages or doctored images designed to humiliate could also face criminal action.

A review of social media and the law by the House of Lords in 2014 concluded there was enough current legislation to cover crimes committed online.
New guidance was also issued by the CPS in October to help the police identify online crimes - including trolling and virtual mobbing.

But Anna thinks the law needs to go further.
Writing on her petition, she said: "I did not or would not consent to have a sexual relationship with a married man, let alone a man who was actively having relations with multiple women simultaneously.
"His behaviour was definitely premeditated showing his intent to use women, yet the current law will not find his actions a criminal offence."

Tony Neate, chief executive of Get Safe Online, recognises the devastating impact catfishing can have on victims.
"It can ruin a life. I know there have been suicides because it's affected someone badly," he says.
"It can affect their mental stability and lead to depression and the victims feel they can't trust anyone again.
"I do think we need to look more wisely at this in relation to how it is tackled at the moment."

etc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39078201

Maybe it's a catfish in that little-seen but much discussed Loch Ness photo... :twisted:
 
There was recently an arrest made against Gregory Hill in Georgia - if indeed that is his name. It turned out he had been romancing and fleecing women for years, so much so that there is a "Stop Gregory Hill" Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Stop-Gregory-Hill-620904684655558/

And a link to an article at the AJC:
Match.com user bought BMW with $80K from woman he promised to marry, police say
https://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law...m-denied-bond-georgia/HvQF8MEaNAgO2D11oSQfFM/
 
A rather nasty conman.

A fraudster who used dating websites including Tinder and Plenty of Fish to con 19 women out of a total of £24,000 has been jailed for three years.

Ivan Nkazi, 31, from Liverpool, tricked his victims into believing he had romantic feelings for them before blackmailing them, police said. Nkazi threatened to throw acid in their faces, to turn up at their workplaces and to harm their families. He was convicted of 11 counts of fraud and five of malicious communications.

"Nkazi is a cruel human being who manipulated countless women for his own financial gain," said Det Sgt Chris Hawitt. "He clearly had no respect for those he was speaking to."

Nkazi, of Lee Park Avenue, defrauded his victims from the north-west of England and Scotland by contacting them through dating websites and pretending to be someone else, police have said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-49525285
 
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191203-should-i-delete-tinder-these-millennials-think-so

It’s a pattern many long-term singles will be familiar with, with other complaints about the app-based dating experience ranging from a lack of matches to too many matches, misleading profiles, safety concerns, racist comments and unwanted explicit content. Not to mention a host of digital behaviours so confusing we’ve had to make up new words for them, from ghosting and catfishing to pigging and orbiting.

While almost half of adults under 35 living in the US and the UK have tried some form of digital dating, and the multibillion-dollar industry increased by 11% in North America between 2014 and the start of 2019, there are growing signs that many would rather not be using these methods. A BBC survey in 2018 found that dating apps are the least preferred way for 16- to 34-year-old Britons to meet someone new.
 
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Crackdown on cyber romance scams.

The US authorities say they have frozen the assets of six Nigerian nationals for cyber fraud amounting to about $6m (£4.7m).

The fraudsters targeted American individuals and small businesses in an "elaborate scheme’’ of romantic fraud or by impersonating business executives. They allegedly received illegal money transfers and manipulated their victims to access their usernames, password and bank details. Some victims of romance scams were targeted through emails and social media. The US authorities say the majority of those affected were women, the elderly and those who had lost a spouse.

The whereabouts of the suspects is unknown, but authorities say all their property and interests in the US have been blocked. How much this amounts to is unclear.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-47639452
 
The cyber romance scam hits Ireland. Hmmm ... Rynner?

Gardaí have warned people to be on the look out for a romance fraudster operating online who uses a fake “sea captain” profile to scam victims out of their finances.

The “sea captain” scam has been sailing around social media sites for the past number of years duping unsuspecting victims to part with their cash.

Highlighting the case of a Limerick woman who was duped by the online fraudster into sending them cash, Sergeant Ber Leetch, crime prevention office, at Henry Street Garda Station, said: “A lady in her early 40s received a friend request from a gentleman, and she accepted it. He claimed to be a sea captain and to make a long story short a romantic on-line relationship began. They spoke frequently by phone and he sent a number of photos.

“After about three weeks he asked for her address so that she could receive a package on his behalf, as he was at sea and unable to receive same. The lady agreed.”

Sgt Leetch said the woman received “a number of emails regarding the delivery of this package, and, in one (email), money was requested for delivery cost; unfortunately the lady paid this cost”.

“Not long after the ‘sea captain’ disappeared and with him a large amount of money, which had been taken from the lady’s bank account.”

https://www.irishexaminer.com/break...-online-sea-captain-romance-scam-1008493.html
 
Crackdown on cyber romance scams.

The US authorities say they have frozen the assets of six Nigerian nationals for cyber fraud amounting to about $6m (£4.7m).

The fraudsters targeted American individuals and small businesses in an "elaborate scheme’’ of romantic fraud or by impersonating business executives. They allegedly received illegal money transfers and manipulated their victims to access their usernames, password and bank details. Some victims of romance scams were targeted through emails and social media. The US authorities say the majority of those affected were women, the elderly and those who had lost a spouse.

The whereabouts of the suspects is unknown, but authorities say all their property and interests in the US have been blocked. How much this amounts to is unclear.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-47639452

Looks as if the FBI may have used rendition flights.

A Nigerian man accused of multimillion-dollar fraud and money laundering by the United States was kidnapped by the FBI from Dubai, his lawyer says.

Ramon Olorunwa Abbas - known to his 2.5 million Instagram followers as Ray Hushpuppi - and another cyber-heist suspect Olalekan Jacob Ponle (aka Mr Woodberry) were arrested in Dubai, where they lived, in June.

They then appeared in a Chicago court on 3 July.

The United Arab Emirates has no extradition treaty with the United States but Dubai police said they had been extradited to the US.

A spokesman for the US Department of Justice told the BBC that Hushpuppi was expelled from Dubai and was not extradited. He did not answer how he ended up in US custody.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53361490
 
This Texas grandmother is convinced she's in an online love affair with actor Jason Momoa. He - whoever he is - is sending her large amounts of money, which she dutifully transfers per his instructions.
Police investigating why a Texas grandmother believes she's in love with Jason Momoa

... Tens of thousands of unsuspecting people fall victim to romance scams every year.

Investigators say people searching for romantic relationships are scammed when a criminal creates a fake online identity to gain their affection and trust.

A woman in San Antonio is part of a growing number.

He's best known for his portrayal of Aquaman in "Batman vs. Superman." A Hollywood heart-throb. He's the 6-foot-4 actor the woman believes has fallen in love with her.

"He tells me he loves me, and I tell him, I love him back," said the grandmother.

WOAI/KABB is protecting the identity of this 72-year old, who says she communicates daily with Jason Momoa; talking hours on the phone, exchanging text messages, with heart emojis even video chats.

"I see him, I see his whole body and everything, yep," she said.

Whoever she's talking to, made contact with her on Facebook, before requesting they move their romance to a more private social media app.

That's where she says he arranged to send her money via wire transfer.

Bank records show a $30,000 deposit into her account the first time, a week later $50,000 more.

All of which she transferred to another account at her online lover's request. ...

FULL STORY: https://local21news.com/news/offbea...mother-believes-shes-in-love-with-jason-momoa
 
It's okay, i'm sure Jason Momoa loves you both equally.
 
I liked him better as Ronon Dex in Stargate Atlantis, now he is laundering money, damn, times are hard :p
 
This is astonishing. It's a more extreme version of the 'courier fraud' whereby victims are told their bank account has become compromised and they have to withdraw all their money and hand it over for safekeeping, etc.

The mark here was a 69 year-old widower who was indoctrinated to the point of buying a computer to start online banking and having a 'lodger' to stay who helped clear him out completely.

His family were kept the dark until it was all over.

(Safe Guardian link)

'He lost everything': how a phone call led to £110,000 loss and homelessness

The stranger on the phone claiming to be an inspector from the National Crime Agency and told Geoff Harper* that he was the victim of a complex fraud involving banks, police and, possibly, members of his own family. Harper was asked to help track and identify the fraudsters and to withdraw the money from his three compromised bank accounts for safeguarding. The call was the start of a 16-month ordeal that left Harper homeless, penniless and suicidal.

At least three other elderly victims have been defrauded of their life savings in the same scam – a version of what is known as courier fraud, and two have also lost their homes. Unusually, some appear to have been subsequently coerced into helping to defraud other victims in a nationwide operation that police have equated with modern slavery.
 
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