http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/a ... -age-women
The Metropolitan police has called for victims of online dating fraud to come forward and identify scammers as concern grows about the scale of the problem, with women typically being duped out of nearly £50,000.
Fraud officers are investigating 30 cases where people looking for partners have been scammed, often pawning jewellery and taking out loans as a result of the elaborate hoaxes.
This week Robinson Agbonifoayetan, 32, from Welling in south-east London, was sentenced to three years in prison after he took part in a fraud where two women were convinced that a general in the US marines had fallen in love with them and parted with almost £300,000.
In a separate case, three men have been arrested and charged in relation to a scam where a total of £1.6m was taken from a number of victims.