Scammed out of £113,000

Rachel Elwell is facing bankruptcy after being conned by someone she trusted

- FRANCESCA WOODSTOCK, KATY MEANEY

When I signed up to online dating, I wasn’t looking for love. I’d been married twice, and after divorcing in 2018, I was happy being single. I had a good job in business development, a three-bed house in Brownhills, West Midlands, a nice car and £20,000 in savings. I’d never had kids, but I was close to my mum Karen, 69, and my sister Sonia, 48 – and my dog Sam was my best friend.

But after the pandemic hit in March 2020, I found lockdown to be lonely, so I joined a dating site so that I could meet and talk to new people.

On 1 January 2021, I got chatting to a man called Stephen. Originally from Spain, he was 55 and now lived in Coventry, 25 miles away. His nickname was Bario.

He’d lost his wife seven years earlier to breast cancer, leaving him with their 17-year-old daughter Katy.

After a few days, we exchanged numbers, and I told Mum and Sonia all about him.

Bario and I bonded over our love of dogs, and we worked in similar sectors. He was an engineer and was about to start a new £15 million project, building a petrol station in Ukraine.

It sounded really impressive and on 14 January, the night before his flight, Bario called me for the first time. It was exciting to hear his voice – his accent had a Spanish lilt and our conversation flowed naturally.

‘You make me happy,’ he said, just before we said goodbye. I couldn’t help feeling a bit excited, because the truth was, Bario made me happy, too.

Shocking request

Bario sent photos from the plane, and he kept me updated with picture messages of the project in Ukraine. He looked like he was working really hard. But after a few days, he called in distress.