Kathy, who asked to only share her first name, said she didn’t realize she was being played until she watched the popular Netflix show “The Tinder Swindler,” but by that time she had already shelled out her entire life’s savings.
She said after nearly two years of staying home during the pandemic, she was lonely.
“And that got me thinking. If something like this happened, you know, again, I don’t want to be alone. You know, I want somebody here,” she said.
So she decided to try online dating and signed up for SilverSingles, a site for people aged 50 and older. She said she met a handsome older gentleman who swept her off her feet.
“I thought I was in love because every time I would hear from him, my heart would just burst open. And it was interesting, exciting,” she said. “And after every phone call before we hung up, we took turns praying and even that he was really cute.”
She said he wooed her with messages like, “Good morning wifey, I hope you had a good night’s rest and “I love you more than you can ever imagine.”
But she never met her new love in person.
“I asked to meet him. And he said, well, I’m leaving for a job up in Toronto, and I have to go quickly,” Kathy said. “A couple of weeks after he was there in Toronto, supposedly. He said I need these permits to work here and I need $5,000 for this permit. And they won’t take a check or anything. So I’m thinking, well, yeah,…
