Looking for love – but finding an internet conman

12:55pm Friday 5th September 2008

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A PRIMARY school teacher who dreamed of finding love on the worldwide web was conned out of almost £11,000 when she got involved with an internet dating scam.

Deborah Staveley, 42, of Sherburn Village, thought she was being romanced by a Greek man from Manchester - but it is more likely he was a Nigerian gangster based in Lagos.

She paid out thousands as he spun her a tale of illness, his daughter's kidnap and a desperate need to meet ransom payments before his little girl was killed.

He began to use her bank account as a clearing house for large sums of cash, and it is now believed he had scammed other victims.

Miss Staveley said her initial contact with the man, who called himself John Thomas, began a month ago on a dating site.

He told her he was working as an architect in the Republic of Benin but within a couple of weeks began asking for money to pay medical bills for himself and his daughter, who was suffering from malaria.

Then came the story of his daughter's kidnap and his desperation to pay ransom demands before she was killed.

Miss Staveley said she had been completely taken in and was willing to do anything to help but became suspicious as his demands for cash grew, and money began being channelled through her bank account.

She said: "I admit to being naïve but the story of his daughter dying tugged at my heart strings.

"I sent him money and I gave him my bank details when he asked if he could send me money because they would not accept his credit cards.

"Now my bank has frozen my account and I can't pay my bills or mortgage. Before I knew where I was, I was sucked in.

"It is my own stupid fault and I just feel sick. I've had lots of sleepless nights and haven't eaten properly."

Det Insp Geoff Smith, head of Durham's economic crime unit, said Miss Staveley's horror story was a stark reminder that no-one is safe from fraudsters.

He said: "Deborah has lost a lot of money but learned a valuable lesson.

"A lot of things on the internet are not what they appear to be and people should think very carefully about revealing their personal details to strangers."