70-year-old cryptocurrency owner loses $ 200,000 in bitcoins because of her lover

A British pensioner from Nottinghamshire lost $ 207,000 in cryptocurrency as a victim of a romantic scam. The woman voluntarily transferred funds to her virtual partner’s bitcoin wallet. The attacker himself was in Nigeria and flirted with the woman only to steal bitcoins.

the 70-year-old British woman started communicating with the fraudster in May 2020. At first, the attacker introduced himself as a military surgeon from the United States. Over the next few months, the man made the pensioner believe that they were in a long-distance «relationship.» The fraudster convinced the woman that he was in love with her and needed money to finish his military contract. The Nigerian insisted that the only way to get the money was to transfer it to a bitcoin wallet. The criminal assured her that he would return the money when they met.

The woman withdrew cash from her bank account and sent the money to her virtual gentleman using city ATMs. However, after a while, the pensioner realized her mistake and contacted the police. Law enforcement officers were able to return almost $ 135,000 to the British woman.

The police stated that deceived users should not stop using dating sites, but they should follow a few important rules: never accept friend requests from strangers, never disclose personal information to strangers, and never send money to people they communicate with only online.

«We also urge anyone who encounters similar situations to contact the police. Do not hesitate to tell us what is happening to you. We can help and support you if you are going through a difficult time,» the law enforcement officers said.

As a reminder, journalists found out what happened to the most famous cryptocurrency fraudster in history. There is a possibility that Ruja Ignatova was killed back in 2018. Earlier, the FBI assumed that the «Cryptoqueen» had changed her gender and became a man.