How my fake Kenyan wife-to-be swindled me over Ksh.14 million

Rodrick Lodge, who lost his wife Pauline in 2019, became the victim of a sophisticated romance scam that drained his life savings and turned his world upside down.

Lodge, a former United Nations employee, was living in Leiston, Suffolk, when a friend he had met three years earlier in Kenya introduced him to a woman named Anita.

Over the course of their online relationship, Lodge, feeling vulnerable and seeking companionship, fell in love and agreed to relocate to Nairobi to marry her.

The scam unfolded as Lodge was persuaded to fund renovations for what he believed was Anita’s four-bedroom house.

"She told me she had a four-bedroom house and asked me to upgrade it as part of the dowry. I agreed to help with the home improvements," Lodge explained.

He sent money for various renovations and received convincing photos of the supposed upgrades, along with intimate images.

Anita claimed to be the managing director of a beauty products company with 30 employees, further bolstering her fabricated identity.

Lodge's dream came crashing down when he arrived in Kenya, only to discover that Anita never existed. When he arrived at the airport, she was nowhere to be found, and his desperate attempts to meet her were met with one excuse after another.

Eventually, Lodge uncovered the truth: the scammer was actually his friend, who had orchestrated the elaborate deception.

“The plan was to meet in Nairobi, but it turned out to be a scam. Anita was never real,” Lodge recounted, expressing deep regret for believing in the lie.

Upon returning to the UK, his ordeal continued. Lodge was forced to sleep at Heathrow Airport for three days before finding temporary shelter at a homeless refuge in Woking.

"My future is in ruins. I’ve lost everything and have nothing left to live for. I have no family and the few friends I have view me with contempt. This has destroyed my life," he lamented.

Action Fraud, the UK's national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre, has issued guidance on avoiding romance scams.

They advise against sending money to people met online, particularly if you haven’t met them in person. The organization also warns against sharing bank details, taking out loans on behalf of scammers, or handling packages for them.