US Embassy flooded with dating scam calls

Hundreds of American women are bombarding the US Embassy in London with calls and emails claiming that loved ones have been stranded in the capital without financial help.

In fact, the women are victims of a dating racket involving internet fraudsters from west Africa who are fleecing victims of millions of pounds.

Gangs from Nigeria and Ghana create fictitious online profiles on dating websites using photos of attractive people. Once the relationship is established, victims receive emails from their "loved ones" with hard luck stories including being in hospital without money for medical bills or being stranded at Heathrow. They are asked to send money to a bank account immediately, often as much as $2,000.

The frauds have become so commonplace that the US Embassy has posted a video on YouTube warning of the danger. Staff say they are handling as many as 60 calls and emails a week relating to the scams. A senior consulate source said: "People call us to ask why we are not helping their loved one, because they often get told that we refused to provide assistance, which is why they urgently need money."

US Consul General Derwood Staeben said: "We do not know where the scam artists are based but London is a major tourist destination for Americans and Heathrow is a major travel hub, so the requests for financial assistance might seem more credible if the alleged friend or loved one is in the UK."

The latest warning comes as the Serious and Organised Crime Agency launched inquiries into British citizens being targeted by the gangs.

A London woman told the Standard how she sent more than £10,000 to a man she met on a Jewish dating website before realising she was the victim of a scam. The fraudster told Elana Brown, 46, of Ruislip, that he was a US officer in Afghanistan who needed the money to help a wounded fellow soldier.