Looking for love, a north-east woman turned to the internet, but her dream man turned out to be just another dating disaster.
Debbie had met her hero soldier Frank Miller online and her life was about to change forever. But the warning bells had started ringing.
“On the odd occasions when I could see him I couldn’t see him properly because I was so vain I wouldn’t wear my glasses, but I did think he looked a bit different from his photographs – his hair parting was on the wrong side for a start,” said Debbie.
“He began talking about retiring from the army, selling his house in Texas and using the money to relocate to the UK. As I’d been leading such a boring life, this was very exciting, especially as he kept telling me how much he loved me,” said Debbie.
But Frank began to quash any doubts she had by saying that together, they were the best, and that she should trust her heart.
“One strange thing I noticed about him was his grammar. One day the punctuation was perfect, the next it was full of mistakes – it was almost like I was speaking to a different person,” said Debbie.
This raised suspicions in Debbie’s mind that she might be being manipulated by more than one person.
“A couple of weeks in he began to mention money. He said he wanted me to accept a package he was sending over, and when I asked what it contained he said it was his army medals, a cheque and a gold bar weighing 97kg.
“He even sent a photograph which showed servicemen standing next to piles of money which he said was to prove to me that money was shared out among the commanders as their award for service.
“He needed my phone number as the transaction had to be approved by a diplomat who had to phone me. Stupidly, I gave him my mobile number.
“The diplomat called and we made arrangements to meet at Aberdeen Airport. Then he called again asking me to transfer money for his flights.”
She refused, and when she asked Frank about the turn of events, he claimed he knew nothing about it, suggesting his password and account had been hacked.
Now deeply suspicious, Debbie had worked out from the phone call that the ‘diplomat in Syria’ had been phoning from somewhere in Wales. “I called the police and their advice was to stop all contact and not give any more details, particularly relating to my bank,” said Debbie. But she’d bonded with Frank, the man offering a bright new future.
“The next day Frank asked if I would help him if he needed money, then asked me to send him £47,000 which he’d use to buy diamonds in Syria, which he’d sell here, then use the money to start a new life for us.”
She now suspected Frank was more interested in her money than finding true love. She contacted the police again but says they told her it’s not a crime to ask for money and simply re-stated what they’d already advised, cut all ties. Perhaps twigging she was suspicious, Frank bombarded her with love messages, including: “I love you so much with all my heart, and will do anything I can do to make you the happiest woman on earth – I just need your trust and understanding.
“I am counting on you, due to the love and trust in you, so please help me – please. I am begging you in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the living God Almighty.”
He also said that he hoped no one was contacting her from the old or hacked account and that he was risking his life to call her.
But Debbie wasn’t convinced. “I typed ‘diamonds and Syria’ into the internet and up popped a website called male-scammers.com. I logged on and found a picture of my ‘Frank’ but going by the name, Jack Redd. Underneath the photo there was an extensive list of false names relating to the man in the photograph, along with phone numbers and comments from women he’d tried to trick into sending him money.”
She now thought the photographs of Frank she’d been sent could be of anyone and had no idea whether the man she’d been chatting to into the wee small hours was a US serviceman or not.
“I felt such a fool for falling for his story but wanted to keep in touch with him until I could expose him and let the world know what sort of man he really was.
“I even went to the lengths of holding up a catalogue statement and pretending it was confirmation that the bank was giving me £47,000. He was trying to see what was written down and said I really had to try and get the money to him by the end of today for there was no time to be wasted and that he really loved me.
“I said I love you back, but didn’t mean it of course, but I got the feeling he’s not working alone. I just want to alert other women out there who perhaps aren’t so clued up.”
So has the relationship finally come to an end?
“I said to him, ‘let’s jack this in before I start seeing red’ [a reference to the alias name Jack Redd].
“He knows that I’ve been looking at scamming websites but he is still contacting me every day asking me to have a video call with him. He says it’s all lies and that the US Government is trying to discredit him – he just needs my help to get out.”
To this day, Debbie still maintains a link with Frank, just to find out as much as she can about him, and only agreed to doing this story as a warning to others.
“The last email I had from him said he wanted me to buy his son a laptop and a mobile phone, and send it to a PO Box in Accra, Ghana, West Africa.”