A 66-year-old single lady CBS News is asking “Sue” had saved greater than $2 million for her retirement and hoped to journey the world — however she wasn’t accomplished in search of love.
“It’s like, man, I actually would do higher if I had a male companion,” Sue stated.
So she turned to the relationship app Match.com and rapidly linked with a person who used stolen photographs, claiming to be a non-public fairness investor within the United Kingdom and referred to as himself Santos.
After weeks of nonstop romance, Santos stated he wanted assist renewing knowledgeable license and requested Sue for $40,000 {dollars}.
“I used to be able, I might assist an individual. Why not? I by no means thought he was stealing or scamming. There was no cause,” Sue stated.
But from then on, Sue says, it was full-speed into an elaborate and relentless stream of lies, deception and emotional abuse that drained her of the $2 million she had saved.
More than 64,000 Americans had been taken for over $1 billion in romance scams final yr — double the $500 million simply 4 years earlier, based on the Federal Trade Commission.
About half of people who find themselves utilizing dating sites say they’ve come throughout any person who’s tried to scam them, based on Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Colorado Democrat who says tech platforms have to do a greater job of defending their customers. Republican Rep. David Valadao of California echoes these issues.
The two lawmakers launched the Online Dating Safety Act, which might require relationship apps like Match.com to inform customers if they have been involved with a rip-off account.
“No matter how superior you assume your potential to know what’s on the market, they’re gonna deceive so many individuals and we actually should get in entrance of this,” Valadao stated.
After passing the House, the invoice did not get a vote within the Senate, in order that they’ll strive once more subsequent Congress.
Meanwhile, Sue says she would not have misplaced all of her cash if she had been knowledgeable the person who contacted her was a recognized scammer.
In an announcement, Match Group stated they’ve already begun rolling out fraud notifications and can work with senators to finalize the invoice.
Although new legal guidelines are too late for Sue, she’s not accomplished combating.
When requested why she’s telling her story, she stated, “Because I do not need anybody to undergo the hell that I’ve gone by means of. I do not need anyone to be within the hell gap that I dug with the assistance of a felony.”
