A Perth woman has been left bankrupt, homeless and unemployed after an overseas conman elaborately faked a romance with her to fleece her of all her assets.
Consumer Protection Commissioner Anne Driscoll warned that the woman's plight served as an important reminder of the dangers the internet posed to vulnerable people.
The woman, who lives in the Perth suburb of Redcliffe and has two children aged 16 and 17, met the scammer on an online dating website in November, 2009.
The man, who called himself Christopher, told her he was of Greek origin and was living in Maine, USA, and had business interests in West Africa.
"I was lonely and the kids are grown up now so I thought I could have a man to grow old with," the woman said.
"It was like Christopher hypnotised me into a false sense of a dream of what could be possible."
The impostor started to call her almost every day and chatted with her for a month before he invited her to invest in an oil export project near the Nigeria-Cameroon border.
Over a year's time she sent large amounts of money to bank accounts in Singapore and California, as well as wire transfers through Western Union, lured by promises of a generous return on her investment.
She said she received numerous fake documents and certificates supposedly from lawyers and accountants in the US and Nigeria to support the scam.
The man cancelled a planned trip to Australia at the last minute for a variety of reasons.
To finance the false business venture, the woman borrowed against her Redcliffe home and investment property in the Swan Valley, both of which she was eventually forced to sell.
She lost her job and car and had to borrow money from family and friends before coming to the realisation that she had been professionally scammed.
"I am back to reality now and I want my life and home back," she said.
Ms Driscoll warned other women who were looking for online relationships to be on alert at all times.
"Romance scams target vulnerable people and the fraudsters build up trust and use fake documents and websites to support their claims," she said.
"The person perpetrating this scam is a professional conman. There is no sense of remorse as he has cold-heartedly groomed his slave with regular telephone calls and promises that have convinced her to send money overseas.
"People searching for partners online should never entertain business propositions or send money to people they have never met in person or don't know they can trust.
"Protect your identity and personal details and don't be blinded by love. At the very least get some independent financial advice if you do not want to confide in family or friends.
"Consumer Protection receives numerous reports from victims of romance scams who have lost thousands of dollars and the emotional and financial effects from their experience are often quite devastating."
The woman lodged a complaint through the WA ScamNet program and the matter has also been reported to the Police for further investigation.
It is estimated romance fraud has cost almost $1 million in WA so far this year, including this latest scam.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said that money lost by Australians in romance scams totalled $6.5 million in 2009.