From Tinder dates to Facebook love affairs, many women desperate for love fall prey to scams more often than not, leaving them high and dry. ZiMoja takes a look at the stories of women who've been victims of scams; some have lost millions, all because of fake love and false promises.

FORMER COP SWINDLED OF MILLIONS

A former police captain (53) lost almost R3 million to her Ugandan lover. The single mother of three was left penniless and jobless and was been forced to move in with her mother after she was defrauded of her millions by a man who promised to love her. The man, who is in his 30s, met the former cop towards the end of August 2023 and had already defrauded her of millions in December and then disappeared. A spokesperson for the North West police, Brigadier Sabata Mokgwaabone, said the woman met the man who pretended to be a medical doctor at a shopping complex in Rustenburg. "He introduced himself as Dr. Kalvin Sofika and said he was working at a hospital in Rustenburg, and they exchanged contact details. The woman and the suspect started dating," said Mokgwaabone. He said that while dating, Sofika asked the woman to take loans for him, which she did, and he further convinced her to leave her job as a captain in the police service.

Mokgwabone said the police captain resigned from her job in November last year after she was told that she does not have to work or depend on a salary to survive. The alleged boyfriend also took her to a traditional healer, who confirmed to her that she needed to resign so that she could start making money. She then lost her pension money and the loans she took for the suspect, all amounting to R2.9 million. The matter is still under investigation and no arrest has been made. 

ANOTHER COP SWINDLED MILLIONS BY LOVER 

A former Limpopo policewoman was conned out of R3.7 million in pension funds by a scammer she was dating. The man allegedly told the former cop to resign from her job so they could go into business together. Police said at the time that the boyfriend and another man he claimed to have been his uncle and prophet convinced the 54-year-old woman to resign and cash out her pension. In November 2022, she cashed out her pension,] and she received R3.7 million and handed it to her boyfriend to give to the alleged prophet so that he could pray for a successful business. The boyfriend then allegedly sent the victim on holiday for a few days. When she returned to the boyfriend's apartment to check the progress, she found that he had already vacated. She tried to reach the boyfriend on the phone, but he was unreachable. That's when she realised that she had been scammed and reported the matter to the police. The prophet was arrested and the boyfriend was nowhere to be found.

FACEBOOK LOVER STEALS MILLIONS FROM WOMAN

A Nigerian man who pretended to be a white man and scammed a victim he met online was arrested and charged with fraud last month. The Hawks in Gauteng said Okori allegedly scammed the woman of R3 million. The victim, who cannot be named to protect her from victimisation, believed she was involved with a white man named Mark Hermanus. She alleged that she met what she thought was a white male on Facebook by the name of Mark Hermanus and they exchanged cellphone numbers and began chatting on WhatsApp. While the pair were getting to know each other, Mark Hermanus informed the complainant that his son was sick and asked the complainant to lend him money for his son's medical bills. The woman kept giving Okori money, and the bill escalated to over R3 million. He promised to pay her back but never did, and the matter was reported to the Hawks' serious commercial crime investigation unit, which led to Okori's arrest in October in Cape Town. He is currently out on R5 000 bail.

SCHOOL PRINCIPAL SCAMMED OF OVER R2 MILLION 

A former school principal in her 50s was swindled out of R2.8 million in pension payouts using the same modus operandi by 32-year-old Ben 10, who is a Tanzanian national. The two dated for a year before a man named Henry Mugisha convinced her to resign to start a business and later disappeared with her money. The Gauteng police are still looking for Mugisha.