A romantic scam ensnares a 60-year-old man from Caposele. The woman exploited the man for nearly two years to get him to send her money and in the end, she took more than 40 thousand euros from him. However, she was discovered by the Carabinieri who reported her to the competent judicial authority while she was still at large, for aggravated fraud. The modus operandi is that of the so-called 'romantic scam' or 'internet romance scam'. Once the victim is identified, the scammer proposes a romantic relationship and subsequently their difficult financial situation, inducing them to make - over time - repeated donations of money, even very substantial ones.
This is what also happened to the 60-year-old man from Caposele who met a 50-year-old woman of Italian origin who had emigrated to America over two decades ago on a social network. After establishing a virtual friendship, the 'entanglement' occurred and the attractive scammer began to ask for money, also proposing health problems of her children, making the unfortunate man believe she wanted to return to Italy, meet him and share a life together.
Taking advantage of the victim's emotions, the woman managed to get him to send her, in just under two years, many small transfers for a total of over 40 thousand euros until, during a proximity service of the Commander of the local Station at the man's home, the latter managed to find the courage first to confide and then to report the 'love scam'.