Experience: I’m a scam hunter who got scammed

A £16,000 loan had been taken out in my name. I felt sick to my stomachI’m of an age – 48 – that means I grew up without a computer. I didn’t use the internet until my early 20s, but once I did I was hooked, using it to keep in touch with friends. Over the years, the internet changed, but I always used the latest social media site to share my life with friends. Then, in 2021, I became ill – doctors noticed some changes in my genes and I ended up having a preventive double mastectomy and my ovaries removed. The stress caused my long-term relationship to break down. However, I tried to stay positive and shared my journey online to connect with others going through a similar thing.By November 2022, I’d built up quite a large following, and a message dropped into my inbox on Facebook from a man called Andrew. He said he was an army medic, based in Afghanistan, and he’d been moved by my story – his wife had recently passed away. We chatted for weeks, and I really opened up and started to feel close to him. One day, he messaged saying his internet was about to be cut off, and asked me to send him some gift cards with money on them. Continue reading...

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