Inside a Romance Scam: A Cyber Made Human Mini Series

Part One

In part one, we uncover the deceptive strategies used by these digital con artists and provide valuable advice on how to protect yourself online.

To begin our series, host Alice Violet is joined by Emmy-awarded investigative journalist Kerry Tomlinson. Known for her in-depth and undercover reporting, Kerry takes listeners into the world of romance scams, sharing her extraordinary experience of going undercover as a victim to expose scammers’ deceptive and manipulative practices.

Kerry’s investigation began when she was approached by a particularly brazen scammer using photos of a well-known signer. She began interacting directly with them over the course of four months. In part one, she reveals the scammers’ sophisticated psychological tactics, highlighting how they exploit the need for connection and trust to defraud their victims, communicating with love songs and love bombing tactics.

Check out part one on our Spotify: Inside a Romance Scam Part One

Part Two

In part two, Kerry Tomlinson explores how romance scammers want victims to believe they’re going to have a family. Kerry invented a fictional thirteen-year-old son and shared the scammer’s harrowing conversation with an actor playing the role. The scammer even claimed he wanted to be the boy’s father. At the end of the episode, we hear what happened when she finally confronted him.

The episode features a recording of Kerry confronting the scammer, providing insight into their behaviour, the warning signs of scamming and the increasingly angry responses scammers use when challenged. This interaction also reveals the scammer’s willingness to manipulate adults and children, demonstrating his deceit with comments like “I will take you in as my son”. Kerry’s findings emphasise that there is a scam for everybody. By exposing the scammer’s tactics, she offers practical advice on spotting the ‘red flags’ and ways to protect yourself from potential fraud. This episode is a valuable guide for anyone looking to safeguard their online interactions. 

Discover the surprising truth about who is at risk and learn how to spot the red flags of a scam: Inside a Romance Scam Part Two 

Part Three

In part three, we’re joined by Ruth Grover from Scam Haters United. She shares the story of Edward, a man whose identity has been used thousands of times in various scams. This misdirected heartbreak delves into the investigation of faceless crimes within romance scams. We explore a particularly intense case where a victim, unable to distinguish between Edward and the scammer, escalated her pursuit for justice from the FBI to CID and finally filed a civil lawsuit against Edward, whose identity and photographs had been stolen by the scammer, resulting in the loss of not only a relationship but an emotional fallout and legal complexities for the victim of identity theft.

Ruth shares her own story about getting into romance scams after losing her husband and listing herself as a widow on Facebook. She quickly became a target for fraudsters hoping to capitalise on her loss. She also shares tips for both romance scams and identity theft victims.

Join us as we unpack romance fraud’s emotional fallout and legal complexities: Misdirected Heartbreak: Romance Scam Investigations