In June, a Kelso-area man told Cowlitz County sheriff's deputies he had been wiring money to a woman in Africa with whom he had been corresponding. She promised to fly to America to meet him, but she needed him to send her more money so she could bring $500,000 in gold into the country. By the time he wised up and realized he was being scammed, he had lost about $5,000.
Also in June, Longview police took a report from a man who thought he found love with someone he met through an on-line dating service. She pretended to be a beautiful model working in London. She asked him to cash checks on the account of a North Carolina man and send the cash to Nigeria so she could fly to Longview and visit him. Had he successfully cashed the checks -- which turned out to be fraudulent -- he would have had to cover them. As it turned out, he suffered no loss because Cash & Go in Longview found the checks were bogus.
"A woman 'falls in love' with an elderly man, a widower, then starts asking him for money," Longview Police Detective Doug Kazensky said . "Basically, they're bilking money from these people. Once there's no more money, they leave."
Sweetheart swindles target lonely hearts, he said.
"The person's just so lonely. It's the companionship that draws them in, even if it's just someone talking to them. These little things make them feel good," Kazensky said.
"Con artists prey off of that."
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