A WIDOW had to rebuild her life after she fell for a smooth-talking man on Facebook and lost her life savings.
Kate Kleinert is cautioning other users following a tragic incident where a digital affair resulted in a devastating fire that destroyed her home and claimed the lives of her six cherished canines.
In August 2020, Kleinert, who lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, befriended a man named Tony on Facebook.
The widow, who was 69 at the time, said she normally doesn’t accept requests from strangers, but this request felt different.
At the time, her husband had been dead for twelve years.
“I was not looking for romance by any means,” Kleinert told CBS Philadelphia.
“I answered it, and then he was like, ‘Oh, well, how are you,’ you know, ‘My name is Tony.”
Kleinert said she and Tony hit it off immediately.
Tony claimed to be a surgeon working in Iraq with the United Nations who had lost his wife and was now raising two children.
He also told her that his wife died of cancer, tugging on Kleinert’s already sensitive heartstrings.
It didn’t take long for the unsuspecting lady to trust Tony, who she thought was “sweet and handsome.”
Over daily conversations, Tony would tell her he loved her, promised to come visit her, and even got her “kids” to call her “Mom.”
However, as their bond grew stronger, Kate began noticing warning signs. Tony’s Facebook profile appeared suspicious with no friends and solely featuring self-portraits.
Yet, Kleinert dismissed these concerns, focusing instead on the sweet words he said to her each night.
After, exchanging messages multiple times, Tony asked Kleinert to have an internet call on Hangout, now known as Google Meet.
She said it was “nice to have a conversation” with someone who seemed to be interested in her.
However, Tony never showed Kleinert his face because he told her that it was not safe to show his face because of his involvement in Iraq.
Subsequently, Tony began requesting financial assistance. Initially, his plea seemed harmless as he cited the need for a $100 Visa gift card for his daughter, who he claimed had recently started menstruating.
Kleinert, unsure about how things worked overseas, complied.
She sent the gift cards, only to discover that the balance on them was wiped out.
But Tony promised it would be repaid, so she kept helping him, sending more money for supposed emergencies and “business expenses.”
The requests soon became more desperate, with Tony asking for funds to travel to Philadelphia and even money for a lawyer when he was allegedly arrested at the airport.
As the months wore on, Kleinert gave Tony everything she had, including her savings, her 401(k), and even the life insurance money left behind by her late husband.
By the time Tony asked for money to fly to the US, Kleinert had already handed over nearly $40,000.
But Tony never showed up, and instead, Kleinert was contacted by someone claiming to be his lawyer, asking for $20,000 to post bail.
Kleinert was devastated, having spent all her resources trying to help a man who she believed was the love of her life.
Soon after, she learned the bank account he showed her was fake, the lawyer was made up, and the whole situation was a scam.
Expert Advice: How to protect yourself from fraud
Craig Costigan, the CEO of fraud experts NICE Actimize gave the following tips to readers of The U.S. Sun on how to stay safe from fraudsters.
- As the saying goes, trust but verify. Always question your text and email communications. It may not be from who you think it is. Look for giveaways that it is a scam email. If your bank contacts you about a fraud via a text or email, call the number on the back of your credit or debit card to contact the fraud department directly – much safer than giving data to an impersonator.
- Protect your personal identifying information such as social security cards, your blank checks and other IDs.
- Always be vigilant. Even the safest and most careful among us have encountered fraudsters – we survived
because we reported the activity immediately to our providers, changed our passwords and checked our credit reports for unusual activity.
- If you are not applying for credit, you might also consider placing a freeze on your credit reports, such as Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, so fraudsters can’t open accounts in your name. You can easily unfreeze your credit when you want to open a new account.
ROMANCE SCAM TURNS TRAGIC
Kleinert’s story took a tragic turn when a fire destroyed her belongings and killed her six dogs in 2022, thanks to a bad air conditioning unit that shorted out.
Before the tragedy, she knew she needed to replace the unit, but didn’t have the spending money because of her nightmarish relationship with Tony.
Even in her darkest moments, Tony kept calling to ask for more money.
Eventually, the truth came to light. Tony was never a surgeon.
He was a 55-year-old Nigerian man using stolen photos from a real surgeon’s Instagram account, NBC Philadelphia reported.
Kleinert was devastated, not just by the financial loss but by the emotional toll it took.
She eventually turned to law enforcement, and after sharing her story with her family, Kleinert began the long, painful process of rebuilding her life.
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM SCAMS
Now, Kleinert works with the AARP’s Fraud Watch Helpline, using her painful experience to educate others and prevent them from falling victim to the same scam.
Romance scams are on the rise, with the Federal Trade Commission reporting a staggering $1.14 billion in losses in 2023 alone.
But the financial damage is only part of the problem.
Cybercrime experts, like Joe Wolfley from the FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office, stress that no one is immune to these scams.
“Unfortunately, everybody can be the target of this,” Wolfley told CBS Philadelphia.
A study by cybersecurity company Malwarebytes revealed that over 65% of people have encountered a romance scam attempt, with 10% reporting losses of $10,000 or more.
If you suspect you’re being targeted in a romance scam, experts urge you to act quickly.
The FBI recommends researching the photos and details shared by the person to see if they’ve been used elsewhere.
And if you’ve already fallen victim, it’s crucial to report it to authorities.
If you think you’ve been scammed, you can report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov.
