Romance Scam: Woman lost $26K to lover who claimed to be Indiana businessman

    INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (WRTV) -- Beth Hyland found love online.

The Portage, Michigan woman met her boyfriend Richard on the popular dating app, Tinder.

Richard worked as a project manager for a construction company in Fort Wayne.

They texted and talked on the phone every day for months.

Beth greeted Richard every morning with a selfie.

“You melt my heart with each picture that you share with me,” wrote Richard. “I am yours and you are mine. I love to love you.”

But it wasn’t true love. It was a scam.

“I was completely head over heels in love with him,” said Beth. “We were unofficially engaged. I was sending him pictures of houses and engagement rings.”

Beth said Richard told her he’s French.

“His accent wasn’t that thick, so I took him at his word,” said Beth.

Richard told Beth he would receive a huge payout for a finished construction project in Qatar, a payout he’d share with Beth. “He had to pay a lawyer to help him with the documentation and the translator,” said Beth. “He could not log into his bank account and he asked me to try. I tried and it worked. This is how he gained my trust."

Beth said even though Richard did not ask for money, she wanted to help him, so she sent him $26,000 via Bitcoin ATM.

“It wasn’t about the money, I just felt like I had to help him,” said Beth. “I trusted him.”

When Richard said they’d need to pay a $50,000 “activation fee” to get the payout, Beth contacted her financial advisor.

“Something told me to tell him the whole story,” said Beth. "He said ‘I think you are in a romance scam.’ When I heard that, I was just like ‘no we are in love!’"

Beth’s love story came to a grinding halt, but she’s not alone.

The FBI says victims of romance and confidence scams lost $652.5 million in 2023. Indiana victims lost $6.8 million.

“We are in an economic crisis with this,” said Ally Armeson, executive director at Fight Cyber Crime, a national organization providing support for victims of romance scams. “It impacts their mental health, their tax recovery, financial and legal recovery. There’s so many things people don’t realize.” Armeson said it’s nearly impossible for law enforcement to get back cryptocurrency once a victim sends it overseas.

"America is funding transnational organized crime,” said Armeson. “This is a problem. It needs attention. We better get on it quick because it’s going to get worse."

The U.S. Attorney’s Office recently prosecuted and convicted numerous Nigerians for carrying out romance scams.

For example, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced on January 6 the conviction of Olutayo Sunday Ogunlaja and Abel Adeyi Daramola, both Nigerian nationals.

They worked with another individual who created a fake profile named “Glenn Brown” on the dating website eHarmony.

The victim sent $560,000 to “Glenn Brown,” believing she was helping with a construction project in Malaysia.

The Nigerians face up to 20 years in prison at sentencing.

Beth Hyland says she now believes “Richard” was actually a Nigerian scammer.

With so many romance scammers out there, experts say the best weapon is educating Americans.

The FBI says you should protect yourself:

Be careful what you post and make public online. Scammers can use details shared on social media and dating sites to better understand and target you. Research the person’s photo and profile using online searches to see if the image, name, or details have been used elsewhere. Go slowly and ask lots of questions. Beware if the individual seems too perfect or quickly asks you to leave a dating service or social media site to communicate directly. Beware if the individual attempts to isolate you from friends and family or requests inappropriate photos or financial information that could later be used to extort you. Beware if the individual promises to meet in person but then always comes up with an excuse why he or she can’t. If you haven’t met the person after a few months, for whatever reason, you have good reason to be suspicious. Never send money to anyone you have only communicated with online or by phone. “If you are dating online and they can't meet you within two weeks, you treat them like a scammer,” said Ally Armeson with Fight Cyber Crime. Armeson said you can’t trust video chats or FaceTime because those conversations can be faked using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Beth Hyland found her scammer’s photos actually belong to a German man with 4,000 Facebook followers.

WRTV Investigates messaged the German man, but we haven’t heard back.

We also tried contacting Beth’s former lover “Richard” via email and phone, but we were unable to reach anyone.

Beth said she’s speaking out so that others feel comfortable reporting romance scams.

“The biggest thing is it’s not their fault,” said Beth. “It’s like being drugged.”

Beth contacted local police and the FBI, and to her knowledge, they didn’t do anything with the information.

She’s now writing a book about her experience and is focusing on herself.

Beth hopes to eventually find real, true love.