Woman catfished out of $180k life savings by friend of 20 years

A woman has been jailed after scamming her friend out of her life savings by posing as a “pretty boy” who was in love with her.

A British woman was brutally scammed out of her life savings by her female friend who pretended to be a “pretty boy” who was in love with her.

Sumaiya Khurram has since been jailed after she conned her victim, convincing them to part ways with £90,000 (about $180,000) after posing as an attractive male on WhatsApp.

The 33-year-old woman from Birmingham, 160 km north-west of London, pretended to be a man in need of private treatment for blood cancer when she tricked her friend of 20 years, according to the New York Post.

Birmingham Crown Court heard that the “despicable” scam continued for 20 months before the victim completely ran out of money.

Khurram previously pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison last week.

Sumaiya Khurram catfished a female friend out of her life savings by posing as a ‘pretty boy’ who was in love with her. Picture: West Midlands Police/SWNS

The judge described the case as “one of the most despicable” he had ever come across of this nature.

Khurram sent messages with heart emojis and the words “I love you” along with several pictures of a young Asian male as part of the elaborate deception.

Some conversations included discussions about “how far she would go sexually”, according to Yahoo News.

“This case concerns the defendant catfishing her friend by pretending to be a boy who was in love with her,” Andrew Wallace, prosecuting, said.

“She [the victim] was a vulnerable individual who had obvious physical disabilities and who believed that the defendant was her friend.

“She was inexperienced in the ways of the world.”

The offence occurred between 2015 and 2017 and began after Khurram introduced the victim to someone named Etesham Khan.

She sent her friend attractive photos a man on WhatsApp along with romantic and sexual messages. Picture: iStock

The defendant then exploited the victim’s devout Muslim faith and convinced her that Mr Khan was interested in meeting and marrying her.

Mr Wallace explained that Khurram scammed her friend out of all her money by claiming that her fictitious lover was suffering from blood cancer and needed private care.

The victim made 52 separate payments to the man she believed was Khan, but the money either went into Khurram’s bank account or was sent to members of her family.

“At the same time, the defendant was acting as her confidante discussing the relationship and encouraging it,” he added.

“Even after the money had run out there were threats made by the defendant of exposing it.”

The victim made 52 separate payments to her fictitious lover. Picture: iStock

In a statement, the victim revealed that they had been friends for two decades and that Khurram, aware of her experiences with bullying in school, had broken her trust.

“She has taken away my health and wealth and I have felt like taking my own life at times,” she expressed.

When the judge handed down his sentence, he said, “Your families have been on friendly terms for 20 years plus and you have been, or pretended to be, her friend since your teens.

“You knew all about her, of course, you knew of her physical disabilities and mobility difficulties.

“You knew of her character and made a shrewd assessment.

“You knew full well how vulnerable she was when you embarked on this wicked scheme.

“She was inexperienced in the ways of the world, and you dangled before her the images of a pretty boy, a character you created. You bombarded her with pictures.”

Justin Jarmola, who was defending Khurram, said that she had shown remorse and noted that although it was “catfishing of a particular nasty nature”, it was not very sophisticated and did not require significant planning.

He argued that the offence was committed many years ago and that the defendant had not committed any offences since then.

Originally published as Woman catfished out of $180k life savings by friend of 20 years