An Australian businessman Paul Reed has been scammed out of $300,000 by Nigerian conmen in an elaborate romance scam. Reed, 54, said he was approached by a woman on his LinkedIn account and only found out he was speaking to Nigerian fraudsters when police on a money laundering investigation told him. “It sort of grew into a friendship and then it started getting a bit heavier,” Reed told 9News. “They get you when you're vulnerable. And when they find out what you've got, they'll try and take everything, every single dollar.”
Reed, 54, said he was approached by a woman on his LinkedIn account and only found out he was speaking to Nigerian fraudsters when police on a money laundering investigation told him.
After establishing a friendship, the woman said she needed help from someone overseas to access millions of dollars in a bank account that was rightfully hers. He eventually agreed and the scammers were able to access his bank account, which they used to launder money. He's not alone with Australians losing a record three billion dollars to scammers last year, with the average victim forking out $20,000 for every con recorded by authorities.