Kaye Ferguson, Divna Matin: Catfish victims tricked into crime by online lovers

Fake online lovers are increasingly tricking vulnerable Victorian women into crime, resulting in one defrauding her workplace of more than $1 million and leaving another behind bars.

A legal expert has warned of the dire consequences to being catfished, which is rapidly turning everyday women into convicted criminals and stripping their life savings.

Four Victorian women were convicted in court this year after their fake online lovers tricked them into crime to fuel their own sick finances.

Kaye Leanne Ferguson, Divna Matin, Melanie Kilgour and Carolina Reihana were all victims of a dating scam when they met someone who they thought was the love of their life online.

But soon the women were love bombed and entangled in a web of life that resulted in one defrauding her workplace of over $1 million and left another in prison cells.

Deakin University School of Law deputy dean Marilyn McMahon said middle aged women were statistically most at risk of romantic catfishing scams.

“Should they have known better? Certainly,” Professor McMahon.

“But I think in each of these cases, mitigating factors were raised.

“Being in their 50s and late 40s, these were women who didn’t grow up with the internet and perhaps didn’t have some of the protective awareness that young people might have …

“Each of them claimed to have significant mental health conditions that impacted their judgment at the time and with at least two of the women there had been a significant marital breakdown …”

A spokesperson from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said scamming was becoming “all too prevalent in the Australian economy”.

From 286,000 scam reports, Australians lost over $323.7 million to scams in 2021, $56.2 million of which was lost to dating and romance scams.

“Research commissioned by the ACCC in 2021 found that 96 per cent of people have been exposed to a scam in the last five years,” the ACCC said in a statement.

“Dating and romance scams take advantage of people looking for romantic partners, often via dating websites, apps or social media by pretending to be prospective companions.

“They play on emotional triggers to get victims to provide money, gifts or personal details.”

“Going against overall trends where men account for a higher proportion of losses to scams, for dating and romance scams the majority (57 per cent or $32 million) of losses were recorded for female victims in 2021.”

Kaye Leanne Ferguson: Mulwala Ski Club fraudster

Kaye Leanne Ferguson fell victim to a devastating catfishing incident that almost put her in jail too.

The 59-year-old former financial officer was responsible for defrauding the Mulwala Water Ski Club in northeast Victoria of over $1 million in 2020.

Over a two-month period, Ms Ferguson transferred $1.1m from the club to multiple offshore bank accounts after meeting a man on dating website ‘Single 50s’.

Ms Ferguson met the man after separating from her husband in January 2020, but was first scammed by another man in June 2020.

The court heard the man blackmailed her into transferring him $130,000 of her own funds, threatening to reveal explicit photos of her to her children if she didn’t.

Ms Ferguson later met a second man, ‘William David Rodavan’ — an engineer from Melton living in Melbourne who travelled overseas frequently.

While on a phone call in November, Ms Ferguson heard a loud noise and Mr Rodavan hung up, calling back days later claiming he had been involved in an explosion that killed several of his employees.

He told Ms Ferguson he needed money to pay the families of the people who died, resulting in Ms Ferguson transferring $225,000 of her own funds.

Having exhausted all personal funds, Ms Ferguson took the club’s money on 27 occasions, totalling $1,064,000.

She also took $40,000 to pay for renovations that had already begun on her Yarrawonga home, which she said she “desperately” needed to pay the builders.

This home was later sold to pay back the club, along with $10,000 from her savings.

Ms Ferguson was sentenced to a three year intensive corrections order by Judge Sean Grant in Albury District Court in June 2022.

Divna Matin: Post Malone ticket scammer

A Geelong woman with fake Post Malone tickets convinced unsuspecting fans to send her money when she wanted to help her online admirer.

Divna Matin, 56, pleaded guilty to deception charges in Geelong Magistrates Court when she scammed music fans with fake tickets in order to send her catfishing lover iTunes gift cards.

In 2019, Matin met an Australian man on a dating app who claimed to be “in hospital” in Turkey and was in need of money.

To get this money, Matin sold fake concert tickets and used the money to buy iTunes gift cards which she sent pictures of to her catfish.

The court heard Matin became “suspicious” of the online lover and “ceased communications” with him.

Police were eventually tipped off by two concert-hopefuls who reported Matin after their purchased tickets were never delivered.

Matin’s defence lawyer said she did not receive any benefit from the scam herself, but agreed she shouldn’t have been in contact with the man.

“There is a degree of naivety here,” her defence lawyer submitted.

Given that Matin has spent “55 years offence-free before the court”, Magistrate Michelle Hodgson fined her $300 without conviction and ordered restitution.

Melanie Kilgour: Mum who stole from community group

Melanie Kilgour aka Melanie Gourlay pleaded guilty to a rolled up charge of obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

A former Shepparton schoolteacher two stole nearly $150,000 from a community not-for-profit group after she was catfished by a fake American soldier who romanced her online.

Melanie Kilgour, 45, was jailed for six months plus a two year community corrections order in the Melbourne County Court after pleading guilty to obtaining nearly $150,000 by deception and to using a false document.

Kilgour was the former co-ordinator of the Alexandria Community Hub when, in 2019 she sent money from the association to her online fling.

Kilgour said the money went to a man who she believed was an American soldier named Ty Donaldson, who she thought was her “partner or lover”.

The scammer fed her a series of lies while asking for money, promising to meet her outside a bank in Alexandra.

A separate online account then tried to blackmail Kilgour by threatening to distribute intimate photos she had sent to her fake lover.

Judge Michael Tinney said it didn’t matter that Kilgour wrongly thought she had been in an online relationship, and that he would have jailed her just the same had she been duped into committing frauds to give money to a real life boyfriend.

Judge Tinney said Kilgour had repeatedly changed her story, and rejected her argument that the scammer had threatened to distribute nude photos of her unless she kept sending him money.

Kilgour was ordered to repay the remainder of the $148,909 she defrauded to the club.

Carolina Reihana: Tricked into crime by online lover

A Cowes woman inadvertently helped her online lover scam an innocent home renovator of more than $24,000 when she was catfished by him online.

Carolina Reihana, 51, was sentenced in Albury Local Court for recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime when she forwarded on money he stole and then arranged to be transferred into her account.

Court documents reveal a Fairy Hill woman had concrete work done on her farm in 2020.

On June 30, 2020, the woman was emailed an invoice from the contractors, totalling $24,022.68.

After receiving the first email, the woman received another email from a near identical address with new bank details, which she transferred the money into.

A week later the victim was contacted by the contractor who never received her payment, and she realised something was wrong.

Police investigations revealed the fraudulent bank account given to the victim actually existed and belonged to Reihana.

The account’s transaction history showed money had been transferred in different amounts to another bank over a few days.

Reihana spoke with police and admitted to receiving the money and forwarding it on to her online boyfriend, ‘Isaac DowellSmith’.

Court documents state Reihana had no involvement in the fraudulent email.

Reihana had been in an online relationship with DowellSmith since 2017, who had told her he was going to marry her but he was currently deployed to Iraq in the US military.

Reihana sent DowellSmith an unknown amount of money across 18 months after he told her his own account didn’t work and he needed her bank details to transfer his military wages.

Magistrate Sally McLaughlin said Reihana was a senior member of the community who had never been before the court before and had demonstrated she was a person of good character.

Reihana was convicted and fined $700 and will serve a nine-month community corrections order.

Signs you might be getting catfished

1. If you get love-bombed, that is a major red flag. Love bombing is where a relationship become intense, very fast. It may include huge declarations of love, gift giving, planning your future and asking for money.

2. The person you’re seeing online finds repeated excuses for why you can’t meet face-to-face. Excuses might include: they work overseas, in hospital, have Covid, or they’ve been in an accident.

3. They want your bank details. Money should never be transferred, especially by Bitcoin or gift cards.