EDMONDS — Police have helped an Edmonds woman recover $22,000 she’d lost in an online dating-site scam.
The money was saved because of a detective’s hard work and the victim quickly reporting her fears, officials said.
The Edmonds woman, 50, was duped by someone on a dating website, Edmonds police Sgt. Shane Hawley said.
“Instead of finding love, she came across someone willing to take advantage of her,” Hawley said. “After many email conversations, the victim was convinced the person needed the money to take care of legal matters so they could finally be together.”
She soon realized her error and filed a police report.
The detective was able to track the $22,000 to a bank account in Virginia.
After a conversation with the account holder, the detective discovered that the man also was being duped by the same scammer — this time over the sale of a pickup truck.
The suspect convinced the Virginia man he wanted to buy his truck for $22,000. He got the man’s bank account number and had the Edmonds woman deposit her money to that account.
The scammer then tried to back out of the deal with the Virginia man saying he needed the $22,000 refunded and sent to a different account.
The Edmonds detective convinced the Virginia man to send the woman her money back.
“If you are asked for money by someone you may have met on a dating website, it is likely a scam,” Hawley said. “If you have been the victim of this sort of scam, the best thing you can do is report it immediately.”
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