A space romance quickly turns into a nightmare as a Japanese woman gets conned for $30,000 for a make-believe Russian astronaut’s return ticket to Earth.
The 65-year-old woman was wooed by the imposter into paying $30,000 after claiming that he wanted to start a new life in Japan after being stationed at the ISS, Gizmodo reports.
Online Scammers Are Taking Steps Out Of This World
Online fraud has escalated to the next level as a modern-day scam involved a woman from Japan and a man pretending to be stationed at the International Space Station (ISS).
The man who claimed to be a Russian cosmonaut started an Instagram correspondence with the elderly woman in June, which quickly turned into a romantic relationship.
Yomiuri, a local media outlet, reported that the man professed his love to the woman, promising marriage once he returned to Earth to start a new life in Japan, but would need a ticket back.
According to Gizmodo, the carefully curated social media account of the fraudster was enough for the woman to believe, along with his extensive knowledge of space agencies.
With this, the woman ended up sending the con artist 4.4 million yen ($30,000) between August 19 and September 5 to cover the cost of a rocket and his landing fee in five installments.
However, soon enough, she got suspicious of his increasing monetary demands and eventually reported it to the police, according to Daily Mail UK.
The police suspect that the woman had been a victim of a romance…
