An 81-year-old widower was fleeced out of £27,000 after being targeted by a romance fraudster who took advantage of her loneliness.
Doreen Daniel became the victim of the scammer shortly following the death of her husband Gordon, leaving her family devastated.
Romance fraud is when scammers pretend to be interested in a relationship with their victim in order to gain their trust before manipulating them into sending money or personal information.
Doreen, from Angmering in West Sussex, received messages and calls on WhatsApp from a man claiming to be a financial advisor called Adam, living in Switzerland and Monaco.
After building a friendship with her, he convinced the widower to download an app that let him take remote control of her devices and transfer money out of her bank accounts.
