A 76-year-old widow was duped out of her life savings by a man she met on Facebook and fell in love with.
Jennifer Dennis was living in Georgia when she contacted a man named Caleb on Facebook who claimed to be a Red Cross doctor in Yemen.
After months of online chatting, Caleb proposed that they buy a home together in Cary, North Carolina, to live together and start over.
Dennis loved the notion because, as she described her living conditions to WTVD, “everything about the house and the area reminded me of my husband, which was just heartbreaking.”
Caleb stated that he would contribute $600,000 toward their new home and requested her to contribute the remaining $70,000. Dennis stated that she sent him that cash, plus an additional $8,700 for various expenses.
The widow and her son, Raymond, packed their stuff, sold their Georgia home, and went to Cary. Her son quickly concluded that the entire narrative was strange.
“When I noticed that someone was still living in the house and knocked on the door, I automatically knew that it was a scam,” Raymond told the TV station.
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“The owner of the home told them he had lived in the home for years and had no intention of ever selling.”
When Dennis told Caleb, he emailed her a picture of himself allegedly being beaten up, she said. He was never heard from again.
“I had all that money and I don’t think I’ll ever get it back,” Dennis told ABC’s Good Morning America on Friday, September 29.
Dennis’ life savings were stolen, and she and her kid were forced to live on the streets. They dozed out in the car.
A church member later donated a camper for them to live in. Dennis stated that her story should serve as a cautionary tale to others.
“I think that it’s devastating for me, but I have my son, which has been a blessing,“ she told WTVD. “So some women are totally alone and they get scammed like that.”
According to the Federal Trade Commission, romance scams cost nearly 70,000 people around $1.3 billion last year.
