'I fell for a man on a dating app and was scammed, twice, out of £18,000'

A azygous parent scammed retired of £18,000 aft being “lured” into “trading” by a dating app idiosyncratic and signing up for online work, is urging others to “listen to your gut feeling”. Earlier this twelvemonth Gabriella Kranyik, 46, a idiosyncratic manner adjunct who lives successful north-west London with her girl Stella, 18, started looking for ways to marque other wealth arsenic she was “struggling financially”.

She said she met idiosyncratic called Gabriel connected the dating app happn – though she present believes this was a “fake name” – and wrong 2 weeks of speaking to him she was “lured” into trading, wherever she believed her wealth would beryllium invested. After making payments of £600 and £1,500, Gabriella said she was told her investments had generated 52,406.60 US dollars (£39,078.35) successful profit, but aft being told she needed to wage taxes and different fees to retrieve the funds, different her recognition people could beryllium affected, she realised it was a scam.

Having mislaid astir £10,000, she past signed up for online enactment to retrieve the money, which progressive completing tasks, making payments, and withdrawing the profits, but arsenic clip went on, she discovered this was conscionable different scam. She said she has borrowed astir £11,000 from friends and household for some scams, which was “embarrassing” and “humiliating”, and she has since launched a fundraising leafage to assistance her wage her rent and bills and repay the wealth she owes.

Gabriella contacted Action Fraud, explaining each scam successful detail, but she said “nothing happened” – Action Fraud confirmed that it received 2 reports, but it said they person not been passed to constabulary for investigation. Speaking astir the interaction of the scams, which near her “fragile” and “shaking”, she told PA Real Life: “Financially the scams wholly ruined me. Literally, connected my relationship it was showing zero.

“The time aft the 2nd scam I couldn’t adjacent drawstring a condemnation together. I was highly shocked and highly fragile. I stupidly invested my salary, truthful I wasn’t capable to wage my rent, my bills. I inactive beryllium wealth to my landlord.”

Being a azygous parent successful London, with a nett monthly wage of astir £2,500, with rent of £1,350 and approximate bills of £600, Gabriella said she was “living connected the edge” astatine the extremity of each month. She had met idiosyncratic called Gabriel connected the dating app happn, which says it offers the accidental to “connect with genuine locals”, and aft conversing, helium suggested she effort “trading”, saying she would lone person to put “small amounts”.

With Gabriella ever worrying astir “when the adjacent outgo is coming”, feeling desperate, she decided to spell up – and with Gabriel saying they should conscionable successful idiosyncratic soon successful London, she was hopeful. “It sounds silly, I know, but it was a dating app wherever I was influenced oregon lured into trading,” she said.

“I inactive cannot recognize however I could accidental yes to the full thing, but wrong 2 weeks I conscionable said yes.”

They past started communicating connected WhatsApp and, with wide instructions and Gabriel “phrasing everything nicely”, Gabriella said she was told that she would “profit a immense magnitude of money” by making payments via Revolut and Trust Wallet. After paying £600, followed by £1,500, she was told her investments had generated a nett of 52,406.60 US dollars, which she said seemed “unreal”.

“I thought, what? From £1,500, I’ve made 52,000 dollars? I didn’t privation to judge it,” she said. She explained that Gabriel had reassured her and said “let’s effort to get your funds”, but Gabriella was near “waiting, waiting, waiting”, truthful she was directed to a lawsuit services chat forum connected the website: www.antmonk.com.

She past received a effect from a expected advisor connected the chat forum connected June 1 2024, seen by PA Real Life, which said she needed to wage a taxation magnitude of 7,860.9 US dollars by June 4 to retrieve the funds. A connection reads: “If you neglect to wage taxes successful a timely manner, it volition impact your recognition people and effect successful a regular precocious interest of 1% of the full relationship amount, arsenic good arsenic ineligible work for your taxation evasion behaviour [sic].”

With the unit to wage the interest wrong 3 days, Gabriella feared she was going to beryllium placed “on a blacklist” and she started “panicking”. She said: “I was feeling trapped now, I conscionable wanted to get my wealth back, but determination was nary mode back.

“Gabriel was pushing me, trying to get maine to use for a loan, saying, ‘I volition effort to assistance you due to the fact that we are unneurotic successful this situation’. “So successful the end, that’s erstwhile I started borrowing wealth from my friends and family.”

Gabriella said she paid the taxation magnitude and was told her funds would beryllium acceptable aft 12 hours, but she past received a connection which said “the money transportation has failed”. After being told she past needed to wage a withdrawal interest of astir 3,000 US dollars (£2,237), which she paid, followed by different outgo request, she realised it was a scam – and “slowly Gabriel disappeared”.

She said she mislaid astir £10,000 successful full from the archetypal scam and felt “ashamed”. “It was shocking, and I felt a immense magnitude of guilt,” she said.

“I did not privation to judge that it happened to me, and I became precise anxious, worrying astir however I’m going to repay the wealth I borrowed from friends and family.” After looking for “cash successful hand” jobs to retrieve the wealth she lost, she signed up for online enactment via a website called supercomplexcreative.shop which, erstwhile searched for by PA Real Life, nary longer exists.

Via the website and with absorption from a “so-called agent” connected WhatsApp, she said she was asked to implicit 38 tasks and, successful instrumentality for payments connected Remitly, she would beryllium capable to retreat her profits astatine the extremity of each day. After paying £50 and completing the tasks, she said she was capable to retreat £80, making her judge the strategy was morganatic – but this was the “bait”.

Soon aft this, Gabriella said the outgo amounts kept increasing, up to £1,700, and she was told that if she did not implicit the tasks aft the payments, she would “lose (her) money”. However, arsenic clip went on, she said she could nary longer retreat her profits – and again, she realised she had been scammed, losing much than £7,000 the 2nd time. I was, again, highly guilty, ashamed, embarrassed, anxious – I felt everything,” she said.

“I intelligibly retrieve that time and I’ll astir apt ne'er ever hide it.”

In “desperation”, Gabriella said she acceptable up a GoFundMe leafage to assistance her wage her rent and bills and repay her friends and family. She said it would mean “the world” to her to scope the £18,000 fundraising target, arsenic she would beryllium capable to rebuild her beingness and wage disconnected her debts.

Gabriella said it has been “a learning experience” but she wants to stock her communicative truthful that it does not hap to anyone else. She said: “Now I cognize determination are reddish flags I should person acted upon.

“First of all, I had the atrocious feeling, the gut feeling from the archetypal infinitesimal erstwhile I made the outgo – and that’s really my connection to everyone, you request to perceive to your gut feeling. I should person listened to myself and conscionable near things astatine the precise beginning.”

Karima Ben Abdelmalek, main enforcement and president of happn, said successful a statement: “Our users’ information is our apical priority. “We privation singles to beryllium harmless and bask their acquisition connected the app successful a trustful environment. To bash so, happn leverages galore ways to guarantee a unafraid dating experience.

“Our full-time moderation squad works 24/7 to woody with reports, and we person developed our ain in-house algorithms to emblem imaginable scam profiles.”

The connection added that it exposes users of the app to information consciousness campaigns, and advised radical to workout caution erstwhile speaking to oregon gathering a stranger. Claire Webb, acting manager of Action Fraud, said: “Action Fraud tin corroborate that it received 2 reports, NFRC240606724531 connected 16 June 2024 and different NFRC240706750587 connected 1 July 2024.

“There were assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) astatine the City of London Police but person not been passed to a constabulary unit for investigation. It volition proceed to beryllium reviewed against caller accusation received from Action Fraud reports.”

To find retired much oregon to donate to Gabriella’s fundraising page, visit: gofundme.com/f/please-help-to-recover-from-severs-scams.