It began in 2022 with an unsolicited message on social media from a woman striking up a conversation with a lonely man. As their messaging grew more frequent and personal, the man – a resident of a local assisted living community – began to fall in love.
Unbeknownst to him, the affection he felt was being carefully manipulated by the caller. He was being targeted by an experienced scam artist – a man posing as a woman, whose sole aim was to exploit his trust and drain his finances.
As the “relationship” deepened, the scammer began talking about market trends and personal investments. He shared screenshots flaunting his crypto profits and encouraged the man to use his (the scammer’s) broker to set up an account…