A Perth widower has spoken of the moment she realised she had fallen victim to a romance scam. Maggie Ayres turned to online dating after the death of her husband of 46 years.
A man named Bryan emailed her in 2023 and the two hit it off immediately. They chatted via messages and made video calls, but these always had to be scheduled in advance.
The Perth woman said she felt “safe, valued and loved” by Bryan when he told her he worked on an oil rig in the North Sea.
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Although she was skeptical of Bryan, he tried to reassure her by showing her photos of his passport and his oil rig contract. She didn’t know that all of these images had been created using artificial technology.
The online lover convinced Ayres to send him tens of thousands of dollars over the course of their romance, claiming the money was for spare parts for the rig.
“Every time it was different. He started blaming me because it took me too long to transfer the money,” she called.
Bryan told her that once all the equipment was sorted, he could come to Australia and they could finally be together.
Have you fallen victim to such a scam? Send an email to [email protected]
But when the two spoke via video call, the penny dropped and Ayres’ world collapsed.
“There was a technical glitch and while I was still hearing Bryan’s voice, I saw a black man sitting in a closet covered with a blanket so I could see his face and mouth,” she explained.
“I immediately hung up the phone… and screamed out loud in disbelief: ‘Is this real? Is this guy the scammer? Am I really being scammed?’
“I couldn’t believe it.”
Deepfake technology deceives thousands of Australians
The man posing as Bryan used deepfake technology to steal the voice and face of an American real estate agent whose identity has reportedly been used multiple times in scams.
This allowed the scammer to make video calls to Ayres and keep the scam going for so long.
Western Australia’s Minister for Trade Sue Ellery said this type of technology had recently been used in two other romance scams in which victims transferred a total of over $1.4 million.
Last year, Western Australians lost $3.7 million to romance scams, and by 2024 the figure is expected to be $2.9 million.
Ellery said Australians need to be careful about the people they meet online.
“Never transfer money to someone you don’t know personally,” she said.
“Big red flag. If someone you don’t know personally asks you for money, block and delete them and be done with it.
“If you try to put yourself in an everyday face-to-face situation, it would be very strange if someone you had just met asked you for large amounts of money.
Ayres was shocked to realize that other people had been involved in a similar scam.
“I thought it was just me and I was just a stupid victim of this plot,” she said. “I lost not only my mate, but also my independence, my self-confidence and my worth.”
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How do I protect myself from scammers?
According to a new report from the Australian Anti Scam Centre, Australians lost $2.7 billion to scams last year, with 601,000 scams reported to authorities.
While this is less than the record $3.1 billion last year, the number of reported scams has increased by 18.5 percent. The most affected people were those over 65, who were the only group to suffer higher losses last year.
With a loss of $1.3 billion, investment fraud is the most common, followed by remote access fraud ($256 million) and romance fraud ($201.1 million).
Scamwatch warns of the following scenarios:
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It is an amazing opportunity to earn or save money
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Someone you have never met needs your help – and money
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The message contains links or attachments
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You feel pressured to act quickly
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You are asked to pay in an unusual or specific way
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You will be asked to set up new accounts or Pay ID
What should I do if I think I have been scammed?
Contact your bank and report the fraud. Ask them to stop making transactions and transferring money.
Report the scam to Scamwatch here and file an official police report here.
Beware of follow-up scams, especially those that promise to give you your money back. Scamwatch warns that one in three scam victims are scammed more than once.
And finally, get support. You can speak to a financial adviser or contact BeyondBlue on 1300 22 4636 or here for an online chat or Lifeline for online crisis support here on 13 11 14.
They can also contact IDCARE to “reduce the harm caused to them by the compromise and misuse of their identity information by providing effective response and mitigation measures.”
