A SWADLINCOTE woman conned out of £300 believing she had found her soulmate is urging others not to fall for the same ploy.
Mark Walker, a real US soldier, whose pictures are believed to have been used fraudulently to con women.
The woman, who does not want to be named, contacted the Mail after realising that her US soldier may not have been all he appeared - and her suspicions were confirmed after finding other women with similar tales.
She said she could have lost more than £2,000 if her suspicions had not been raised over the money she sent out to his family in America and on his mobile phone top-ups.
She started speaking to the ‘soldier’, who told her his name was Mark Walker, abo
audreymcintyre: She started speaking to the ‘soldier’, who told her his name was Mark Walker, about seven weeks ago when the couple met on an internet dating website.
She said: “I was very new to this and only signed up to the site in January.
“I became friends with a man who explained he was with the US army, serving in Afghanistan. He seemed to be everything I was looking for and we were in constant contact.
“The relationship became quite intense, with plans for the future discussed.”
The woman was soon sending out money. She said: “£270 was sent to ‘help’ this man’s supposed daughter and £30 was for mobile phone top-ups.
“Then he was asking for leave from his superiors. I emailed what I thought was a US army address and asked for permission for his leave. I received a form that looked believable and filled it out and returned it.
“Quite soon afterwards I received an email asking for £2,500, saying I would be refunded after 48 hours and would in return receive his flight details.
“At this point huge alarm bells went off and I decided to Google how to obtain leave for US soldiers. Horrifyingly, the first search return was a site where numerous women had had the same email and, needless to say, it’s a scam.
“I consider myself an intelligent woman and am appalled with myself for falling for this. I have lost £300 and released personal information.
“The £270 was sent to the account of a woman who I now know to be somewhere in Nottingham, who withdrew it immediately. The police think that she launders the money by sending it on.
“Apart from myself, I am concerned about other women who are being taken in. It seems to be widespread.
“I don’t stand a chance of getting my money back, but I want to prevent anyone else getting caught like me.”
A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: “We asked her to get in touch with Action Fraud, which we do with people who have been subjected to internet fraud.”
