Victim of serial romance fraudster: 鈥業 felt my world just falling apart'
Victim, Hannah, recalls how she was duped out of thousands by online romance fraudster.
A woman who was defrauded out of thousands of pounds after dating an online romance fraudster, has told 蘑菇短视频 Radio 5 Live she 鈥榝elt her world falling apart鈥� after she discovered she was pregnant with his child.
Serial romance fraudster Peter Gray, 35, was sentenced to 56 months in prison in February for defrauding four women of 拢80,000. He was also given restraining orders in relation to those victims.
Gray found the women on Tinder and would date them to develop close connections that would help him commit offences for his own personal financial gain.
蘑菇短视频 Radio 5 Live鈥檚 Clare McDonnell has spoken to three of his victims, as well as Hannah鈥檚 sister Natalie, about their experiences.
Hannah met Gray on Tinder and began an on and off relationship with him; during that time 鈥榓larm bells鈥� and 鈥榬ed flags鈥� began appearing. But Hannah believes he was able to 鈥榤anipulate鈥� her into staying with him and later found out she was pregnant with Gray鈥檚 child.
After meeting Grey, her sister, Natalie looked into his past and discovered Peter was a con man.
Natalie said: 鈥淵ou see these things happening on TV. You never believe it鈥檚 going to happen to you but believe me it can鈥�.
Hannah told 蘑菇短视频 Radio 5 Live Drive about the moment her family told her what they鈥檇 learnt about Gray: 鈥淚 just thought, 鈥榟ow am I supposed to deal with this?鈥�.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have brought a baby up without it feeling like a secure loveable home from both parents鈥�, she added.
In a statement, Tinder told the 蘑菇短视频: 鈥淲e have implemented various ways to warn users of potential scams or fraud, from in-app features to popup messages and education鈥�.
The company added: 鈥渁ll users can request that their match be photo-verified prior to messaging. We also partner with NGOs and local authorities to promote awareness of online fraud鈥�.
Commenting at the time of sentencing, Detective Constable Jess Hird, of Kirklees District CID, said: 鈥淕ray is now rightly behind bars for the offences he has committed.
鈥淚 would urge anyone who believes that their details have been used fraudulently to report it. We can, and will, take action against fraudsters such as Gray.鈥�
Further support can be found via 蘑菇短视频 Action Line
This clip is from 蘑菇短视频 Radio 5 Live Drive on Monday 6 May 2024.
You can also listen to the 5 Minutes On podcast 鈥楾he women conned by a romance fraudster鈥� on 蘑菇短视频 Sounds.
