I met a romantic scammer on Instagram

Lovefraud received the following letter from a woman who met a romantic scammer on Instagram. He said he loved her, but what he really wanted was money.

Love Bombing, exploitation and manipulation. I also felt devalued and discarded. I also was hoovered. I left the relationship because he was scamming me and also blackmailing me. 

It was so frightening, I had to think fast. I had to close all my credit cards and I had to close all my credit reports. He was trying to blackmail me out of $100,000. And I have the proof of what he was trying to do to me. It had gotten to the point where he was trying to threaten my daughters. 

This is the first encounter with this Romantic Scammer. I reported him to Instagram and he was restricted from this platform. 

Reappeared in my life

He reappeared in my life again after 1 month and 5 days. When he came back the second time, he unmasked himself to me, claiming he fell in love with me. So I believed him. 

Before I knew it, I was in this relationship. Before I knew it, I was giving him money and he started manipulating even more. 

Then one day he asked can he face time me. So we did. He told me he was from Cape Town, South Africa. I believed him. The next thing I knew he was telling me he wanted my trust and love, this was so important to him. 

In the first part of the relationship, when I met him on Instagram, after a few days he started Love Bombing me. Telling me he loved me so much just after a few days of conversation. This went on for many months. 

Silent treatment

Now in 2024, we are still in this relationship. He wanted me to do something that I refused to do. His behavior completely changed. Here comes the Silent Treatment, 

I couldn’t understand why he was doing this. He was so painful. So I try to reach out to him. Sadly I got no response. 

Just out of the blue, he was talking to me again. I noticed the texting messages slow down. Then at times I noticed a change in his behavior. He stopped communicating with me. 

All at once he tells me he was seeing someone else online. He blames me for the breakup. Told me it was my fault. 

I was shocked. I was confused and hurt. I asked him why did you bring another woman into our relationship? Because you wouldn’t support me, he said. 

On to the next target

He said he was in need of money, so he will call this next target. He told me she easily gave him her cash app and all the cash he wanted, this is after meeting her online recently. 

Read more: How to implement No Contact

So I asked him are you asking this lady for money? 🤑 He said yes. I asked him, are you using this lady? He said yes, he is. He told me she is a 61years old and she lives in the States just like me, I believe he told me California. 

So the relationship ended March 2024, 1 month before our 1 year anniversary. 

I read this information on Love Fraud on how to break off from a Sociopath. I was told once you make it clear that the involvement is over, have no contact with the Sociopath. 

Immediately I blocked him and deleted the app off my phone.

Learn more: Free! The Basics — Love Fraud and how to avoid it