(CBS4) DENVER Officials issued a warning to senior citizens about online dating after an Englewood woman fell in love and almost lost her fortune to her e-mail sweetheart.
After her husband died of leukemia, Debbie Fedde said she went online to look for love and soon met a man named Paul.
"We seemed to have a lot in common with one another," Fedde said. "He loved animals, he loved genealogy, he loved to travel."
Paul told Fedde he was working in Nigeria. She always noticed a Vermont area code when he called but she was so smitten that she never questioned it until a late night phone call came asking for help.
Paul said his hotel room in Nigeria had been broken into.
"When he came back his briefcase was stolen with all of his credit cards and all his money was gone," Fedde said.
He asked her to wire him a significant amount of money. Fedde said she was tempted to because she thought of Paul as her soul mate. She said his e-mails promised they'd travel the world watching sunsets together as soon as she sent him money to come to Denver.
"They will say they're out of the country working, being paid in money orders and they need help getting the money fast to have U.S. dollars sent to them," said Amy Nofziger of AARP.
Fedde said she loved his emails but ultimately came to an unromantic conclusion about Paul and accepted that he was a scam artist
Officials said to be weary of online love when it comes to money because it's a recurring scam.