‘Desperate for love’: Perth woman scammed out of $780,000

A Perth woman who lost her life savings to scams and is now homeless and relying on Centrelink has given a dire warning to Australians.

A Perth woman who lost her life savings to scams has warned Australians to be on the lookout for fraudsters.

Annette Ford, 57, handed over a staggering $780,000 to two scammers during her search for love online.

Now, she’s homeless and couch-surfs in Helena Valley while seeking housing at an affordable retirement village.

Despite working hard at her dog grooming business for years, she has been left reliant on Centrelink benefits.

“I’m not physically or mentally capable of going back to work at the moment … I’m extremely embarrassed,” Ms Ford told The West Australian of her ordeal.

Ford said she had been “desperate for love” when she joined the dating site Plenty of Fish. Since her marriage ended in 2018 and her ex-husband had moved on, Ms Ford believed that’s what she needed to do too.

She said her husband had done all of their accounts over their 33-year marriage.

“I was gullible and foolish and I thought I was in love … we’re all so desperate for love,” Ms Ford explained.

First, she talked to a man named ‘William’ for months, as he built trust.

Annette Ford lost her life savings. Picture: Annette Ford/Facebook

Then, he asked her for $5000, saying his wallet had been stolen in Kuala Lumpur.

“He said he had been mugged outside the site he was working on (in Kuala Lumpur) and they took his wallet and his cards,” she said.

“The next thing I know he’s in hospital and I’m being landed with a $5000 hospital payable to an Australian doctor. I (paid) that … then there was a hotel bill, and he said he couldn’t pay the workers on the site because he didn’t have access to his cards.”

There were more requests for money, until he’d swindled $300,000 and also “drained” her super fund, which is self-managed.

Ms Ford said she didn’t hear anything back from the Australian Federal Police after reporting the scam.

Love scam and romance fraud with messages. Picture: iStock

Four years later – in 2022 – Ms Ford encountered another scammer, this time on Facebook.

‘Nelson’, who claimed to live in Amsterdam and said he had a friend in the FBI, asking for $2500 which he claimed was to help with an investigation. Ms Ford declined.

He then asked her to deposit money he sent to her into a Bitcoin ATM.

“Every time I had to go to the crypto machines … it would have been $1000 a pop, and that happened on many occasions,” she said.

She explained that there was money going in and out of her account that she wasn’t aware of.

Ms Ford said she was “foolish enough to keep going” and before she knew it, she had lost around $280,000.

That’s despite her visiting Amsterdam on two occasions but failing to meet Nelson.

Now, after losing $780,000 in total, Ms Ford begged Australians to be vigilant of scammer: ‘They say all the right things, they sweep you off your feet … but they’re going to take your money and they’re going to leave you broke,” Ms Ford warned.

“Don’t feel like an idiot, don’t feel silly, this is your money … remember how hard you damn well worked for it before you start sending it to somebody you’ve never met.”

Australians have been warned to be careful of their money. Picture: iStock

Dating scam alert

There were more than 3200 romance scams reported nationwide in 2023, with losses nearing $24 million.

Commissioner for consumer protection Trish Blake expressed concern over the significantly higher total losses than the previous year.

“An average loss of over $87,000 and in one case nearly $800,000 – that’s the devastating reality of romance scams in 2024,” she said.

“These staggering figures represent a lifetime of savings for many and can be financially crippling.”

Ms Blake said artificial intelligence was a significant challenge for consumers and authorities.

“Deepfake technology is allowing scammers to create highly realistic videos, impersonating fabricated love interests and exploiting the images of real people in the process,” she said.

“That’s why our advice remains that unless you can meet in person, you should proceed with extreme caution, as you can’t always trust what you see in video calls or hear over the phone.”