Two months before my wedding, I discovered my future husband didn’t exist

Megan Clarke was conscionable 2 months distant from saying ‘I do’ erstwhile she realised her full narration was a lie.

It each began similar a fairytale. A handsome young antheral walked into her workplace, a bar, connected a quiescent weeknight and made his romanticist intentions clear.

At the time, Megan was enjoying being young and azygous portion surviving successful the Isle of Wight. Settling down wasn’t precocious connected her docket successful 2017. But erstwhile Lord Bertie Underwood introduced himself, things rapidly changed.

His wooing was hard for Megan to ignore. Flowers would get astatine her work. Expensive gifts purchased astatine Harrods would regularly beryllium handed over. Luxurious day nights successful London and agelong drives successful his Bentley car were commonplace.

‘He was charming, kind, thoughtful, loving. A existent gentleman,’ Megan told Metro. After 1 month, she moved into his three-storey seafront home, making it her ain by framing their selfies and scattering them throughout.

On their archetypal Christmas time together, Bertie projected with a Cartier diamond ring. He told Megan she’d person a Lady rubric if she wished. The whirlwind romance was moving fast, but Megan was blessed to beryllium swept up.

She joined his watch-selling concern aft helium asked her to permission the bar. Megan loved her job, but she loved Bertie more, truthful carried retired his wish. She believed they were moving connected thing large together.

Now, she doesn’t cognize if immoderate facet of their emotion communicative was real. ‘I deliberation he’s 1 of those radical who genuinely can’t emotion anyone,’ Megan, 27, summarised, with a sadness successful her voice.

The unravelling

After 18 months unneurotic things unravelled rapidly. When letters that weren’t addressed to either of them arrived astatine their home, Megan asked questions. He would explicate it away, telling her that they were for erstwhile tenants.

Something wrong of Megan told her to investigate, which led to an bureau search. She recovered aggregate cards nether antithetic names. He unopen her down erstwhile again erstwhile she made enquiries.

Megan decided to commencement googling names and was stunned to observe that her ‘Bertie’ was really called Robert Madejski. His mug changeable filled her screen, on with details of his erstwhile conman convictions.

His aristocratic backstory, posh accent, occupation arsenic a horologist (someone who makes, designs, and fixes watches) and beauteous overmuch everything he’d told her was a enactment of fiction. Even her ringing was a fake. His petition to ne'er station him connected societal media abruptly made cleanable sense. He was hiding from galore people.

When radical inquire her wherefore she didn’t look into his communicative earlier, she has a elemental explanation: ‘I’m a trusting idiosyncratic until radical springiness maine a crushed not to, and helium was bully astatine what helium did. He ne'er slipped up.

‘He would marque up tiny irrelevant lies to backmost up the large lies. For instance, helium told maine however he’d recovered our floorboards successful a London workplace and installed them during a renovation. He didn’t adjacent ain the house, it was a rental.

‘Also, Bertie said his great-grandad invented the Underwood typewriter, and helium had pictures of the appliance displayed connected the walls. It was wholly made up.’

When Megan confronted Robert, who she inactive refers to arsenic Bertie during the interview, helium didn’t connection immoderate existent answers. He past disappeared leaving Megan ‘heartbroken’ and tasked with cancelling their wedding day.

Romance scams connected the rise

Although Megan’s lawsuit is extreme, unfortunately, scams aren’t rare. Recent probe by Citizens Advice recovered that 9 cardinal radical were caught retired by them successful the UK past year.

Con artists person agelong taken vantage of worries, needs, desires, and kindness. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that romance scams are 1 of the astir communal ways to deceive.

A romance scam involves the trickster going to large lengths to summation the spot of their unfortunate and person them that they are successful a genuine relationship. As good arsenic the important fiscal losses – the mean nonaccomplishment per idiosyncratic who fell unfortunate was £10,774 – determination is besides a intelligence impact. Those who are targeted person lost a spouse and enactment strategy aft being callously manipulated.

The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau reports that cases roseate 8.4% from past year. They foretell this isn’t adjacent the full representation arsenic embarrassment tin often halt radical coming forward.

‘We cognize romance fraud is simply a heavy underreported transgression truthful it is apt to beryllium importantly much widespread,’ said Detective Superintendent Oliver Little, from the City of London Police. ‘We promote everyone to travel guardant if they deliberation they could beryllium a victim.

‘There is nary shame successful telling your story, arsenic it is done this sharing of quality that tin truly assistance america larn astir the tactics utilized and, ultimately, drawback those responsible.’

The aftermath of betrayal

Megan decided to station astir her acquisition connected societal media to pass others. She rapidly received messages from radical claiming they had besides been progressive romantically with Robert. ‘Every azygous idiosyncratic he’s done this to and had intersexual relationships with person been different. There is perfectly nary signifier successful type, gender, oregon age, which makes maine deliberation determination weren’t existent feelings ever involved.’ Part of his scam was utilizing Grindr to find men. One antheral was tricked into letting him merchantability a ticker connected his eBay account. He took the wealth but didn’t nonstop it. It was the victim, not Robert who received threatening messages.

Robert near Megan with astir £30,000 of indebtedness aft mounting up recognition cards successful her name. The Police Action Fraud squad were contacted, but determination wasn’t overmuch they could bash to help, truthful Megan began a photography concern and worked hard to wage it off. She inactive receives bills to this day.

Her erstwhile spouse was arrested for unrelated fraud charges, but absconded from HMP Ford successful May 2022, midway done his five-year sentence. This is wherefore Megan is taking portion successful Channel 4 documentary, Love Cheats. She hopes that by getting his look retired there, helium tin beryllium caught quicker.

‘Without a azygous uncertainty successful my mind, I cognize helium volition beryllium doing precisely the aforesaid happening to idiosyncratic other close now, and they volition beryllium wholly oblivious arsenic to who helium is. I anticipation getting his look retired determination volition pb to him being found,’ she stated.

Megan was people fearful erstwhile she heard that Robert was connected the run. ‘When helium was successful situation that was the lone clip I knew wherever helium was, truthful it’s unsettling now. I would frost if I did spot him,’ she predicted.

Rebuilding her life

It has taken a portion for Megan to physique herself backmost up, some financially and emotionally. Her coping mechanics has been throwing herself into work, adjacent accepting a wedding booking connected the day she was expected to go a wife.

Megan started dating again astir a twelvemonth aft Robert but is presently azygous aft the extremity of different semipermanent relationship. Due to her experiences, Megan wants to enactment this way. ‘I americium inactive precise overmuch a blessed and affirmative idiosyncratic who will give anybody the clip of day, but I americium alert of what radical are susceptible of,’ she emphasised.

‘I would alternatively walk my clip connected work, my 2 doggies, and my adjacent radical of girlfriends. They were determination erstwhile I met Bertie and are inactive present 8 years later.’

It’s lone present that she has started therapy, which was provided by Channel 4. She has yet taken clip to process the ‘completely insane scenario’, thing she ne'er did successful the contiguous aftermath. Part of the crushed she didn’t talk astir the achy section of her beingness was owed to embarrassment.

‘Dealing with a breakup is hard, but realising you weren’t successful emotion with a existent idiosyncratic is thing I inactive conflict to get my caput around,’ she shared.

‘The chaos and trauma of him disappearing, past conscionable having to spell connected being normal, and hide what I went done was truly bizarre.’

Megan is inactive not definite however Robert envisaged things ending with her. She points retired that lone helium tin reply that question. However, Megan is definite helium ne'er intended to get married, arsenic it would beryllium intolerable with a fake name.

After what he’s enactment her through, Megan is not definite she’ll ever locomotion down the aisle. However, the earthy optimist rapidly added: ‘Maybe I volition consciousness otherwise if I americium successful emotion again 1 day. We volition spot what the aboriginal holds.’

Love Cheats is disposable to ticker connected Channel 4.

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