Single Mom Duped Out Of $40k By Tinder Scammer
Single mom from Oregon, Katie Powell, thought she had found love on Tinder…but now, she fears she has been scammed out of $40,000. “It’s turned my life upside down.”
Powell fell for a man who claimed to be an engineer living in Turkey and their messages turned hot-n-steamy. But soon, things took a turn and he told her he was in the hospital and needed help with the bills. Even went as far as to send a pic from the hospital which was actually former MLB pitcher Phil Hughes (with a photoshopped face) in surgery. Now he did do things for her like pay off her credit cards and transfer $750,000 to her retirement account. But those payments bounced and Vanguard froze her retirement account. Before she finally started to realize she was being scammed, she had sent $40,000.
She now has to deliver food for extra cash. “I curse him every time I’m out DoorDashing,” Powell said. “Busting my butt to make some more money because of him.”
She’s not alone, some 70,000 people reported being targeted by love scammers in 2022 alone. People ranging from 40 to 69 tend to be prime prey, per the FTC.