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Online Casanova scammed
A Casanova who had frequent adventures with women over the Internet fell victim to the claws of one smart woman, who managed to fleece him out of $5,730 (Dh20,915) in a scam.
The man had a history of telling women in online chatrooms that he was a successful businessman living in Abu Dhabi to attract ladies from the country and abroad.
But the hunter became the hunted when he fell in love with one woman, who claimed to be a wealthy, good-looking Arab residing in an European country. The man remained cautious until the woman set up an occasion to show herself, in lingerie, on her web camera. She maintained she was a decent woman from a good family background, making it clear she was not a prostitute.
Within a month, the man said he had fallen in love with the woman and “lost his mind”, unable to think clearly about what was true and what was false, believing the woman, who had also professed her love, whole-heartedly. Eventually, the woman told him she had been experiencing financial hardship. She went on to say that she had $11 million deposited in a big financial foundation in her name and wanted to get the term deposit broken, but could not do so until she paid a fee which amounted to $5,730. The woman promised him that she would pay him 20 per cent of the total amount of the deposit once she got access to the funds. She emailed him a number of fake documents to prove the authenticity of her claims. In spite of the fact that the Casanova did not have that amount of money to give to the lady, he said he managed to arrange the cash and gave it to a man in this country, who the woman claimed was a diplomat, doctor and friend of her family.
The duped lover and the middleman met in Dubai when the cash was handed over to the latter, but without any guarantees.
It was only after the woman asked the man once again for $26,000 in unpaid deposit taxes that the man twigged he had been scammed. He promised to arrange the cash for her, but reported the matter to the police who laid a trap and caught the middleman who had pretended to be a diplomat.
The investigation conducted by the financial crime prosecution in Abu Dhabi revealed that the middleman, who was arrested in the sting operation, was residing illegally in the country.
He was neither a doctor nor a diplomat, but was said to be a member of a gang whose members are both inside and outside the country.
The middleman was referred to the criminal court on charges of swindling, fraud and appropriating other’s money and committing online fraud.
The woman was also referred to court to be tried in absentia.
(This report has been published in coordination with the Judicial Department - Abu Dhabi)
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