He was handsome, cultured, sensitive. He wrote her daily tender messages, eager to meet her. The only obstacle that stood between them was distance and his professional obligations.
This was because the American doctor with whom the 43-year-old Greek woman communicated on a daily basis via an online app was stranded in Yemen where he was involved as a United Nations (UN) humanitarian aid worker.
In order to break his contract and come to Greece he had to satisfy the indemnity clause, which meant that "he needed money, lots of money", which he did not have.
The 43-year-old woman agreed to help him, paying various amounts of money in instalments, sometimes through a cryptocurrency (bitcoin) exchange and sometimes through a bank account. Five months after their initial communication and after depositing 130,000 euros from her parents' savings, she began to suspect that Dr. Michael Wooden, as he was introduced to her, did not exist, but was in fact the invisible protagonist of a well-established scam set up against her, known in English as Love Scamming or Romance Scamming. Late last year, the victim sought legal help and turned to law enforcement authorities.
Just 24 hours ago, the Electronic Crime Division of Northern Greece announced the arrest of a 36-year-old woman, originally from Albania, who is accused of involvement in the case. The foreign woman was taken to the prosecutor and was referred to the investigating authorities of Thessaloniki to answer on felony charges. The case seems to involve two more men whose details could not be traced.
How the scam was set up Good morning my love. How did you sleep?
[/P]Unraveling the tangle of the case, the authorities seem to conclude that the scam started to be orchestrated last summer. It was when the 43-year-old was working with the 36-year-old at a tourist accommodation in northern Greece. They developed a friendly relationship and started chatting about their personal matters. The foreigner confides that her so-called partner is far away in Yemen, where he is working as a doctor as part of a UN humanitarian aid mission.
Under these circumstances, she suggests to the 43-year-old to put her in touch with a friend of his, who is also a doctor and a member of the same mission. Indeed, the sufferer starts chatting with him online. He sends her a photograph to give her an idea of his physical appearance. Waking up in the morning, the 43-year-old finds tender words on her mobile phone screen. Good morning darling. How did you sleep?" is reportedly one of hundreds of messages he will send her in the coming months.
The 43-year-old seems to be captivated and the messages keep coming. Having gained his trust, their conversation turns to then prospect of him coming to Greece and the pretext that in order to do so, both he and his friend must "terminate" their contracts and pay compensation. For the financial aspect it appears from the file that she is mainly "talking" with the friend of the alleged Dr. Michael Wooden and in order to convince her that it is not a scam they send her messages with specific instructions and a sender bearing a UN email address.
All the while, the 36-year-old seems to never miss the opportunity to convince the sufferer of the need to continue depositing the money (most of it in bitcoin), playing, according to the complainant, an active role. Having already contacted the Cybercrime Department, an operation is planned in which the 43-year-old delivers 10,000 euros to the 36-year-old in marked banknotes, followed by her arrest. She is expected to apologize tomorrow, when her criminal treatment will be decided.
Source: APE-MPA
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