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An elderly woman in Raymond is the latest victim of an internet dating scam. She's now speaking out to warn others about looking for love on the World Wide Web.
64 year old Eugenia Hynum just learned how to navigate the internet a couple of months ago. Her six children are all grown up so Hynum decided it was time to meet someone special. To her suprise a Mr. John Smith from Canada found her.
"You look like a nice sweet Christian lovely lady," is whatHynum says he said to her.
Eugenia Hynum met John Smith on a Christian internet dating service. They began chatting online, some conversations lasting until three in the morning.
"He said I'll be home for Christmas. I want to meet you and marry you," says Hynum.
"After all the I love yous and your special and your beautiful, making it personal and building a trust, then they say hey can you help me out setting up a new business," says Hynum's son Jonah Hynum.
Jonah Hynum sayshis mom was the middle-man in an internet scam. John Smith used other people's identities to buy merchandise online and send them to Hynum's address.
"It was prepaid, so all I had to do was send the boxes," Hynum says.
She was instructed to send the merchandise to an address in Ghana where he was supposedly opening a retail store. Shoes, electronics, and kitchen tools were among the items.
"It continued on for two weeks now before we caught her and stopped what's going on," Hynum's son says.
In a search for information on internet dating scams, we found a governement website issuing a warning specifically against persons claiming to live in Ghana who profess romantic interest. The website warns "The anonymity of the internet means that theUS citizen cannot be sure of the real name, age, marital status, nationality or even gender of the correspondents."
Hynum says she will never trust internet dating again.
"Unless you can see them face to face, don't go by what you are just reading," says Hynum.
The Hinds County sheriff's department has taken the merchandise into custody. Investigators say they will now begin looking into this scam.
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