Jessica Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, is prosecuting the Annandale man’s case. She said large numbers of romance scams go unreported because victims are embarrassed that they fell for tales like the one the defendants in this case spun, around widowed royalty and inheritances of gold bullion. But she said the scammers are sophisticated and patient in their approach, building rapport with targets over a matter of months before making their move.

“These fraudsters know exactly how to play on people’s emotions,” Aber said in an interview. “They use third parties to try to validate the stories that are being spun.”

Authorities take it seriously when complaints are made, Aber said; her office has prosecuted multiple cases of romance fraud in recent years.

Scammers are based both domestically and internationally, she said. Sometimes fraudsters spin exotic tales of international intrigue; other times, the approach is more mundane.

Richard Dorpe, a Ghanaian national, portrayed himself as a balding 57-year-old white man from Virginia Beach named “Jerry Linus” on the “OurTime” senior dating website. He conned a 68-year-old widow from Chesapeake out of more than $300,000, as well as items including clothes, a computer and jewelry. When she ran out of cash, she took out a home equity loan.

Dorpe was sentenced to more than three years in prison last year by the federal court in Norfolk.

Aber encourages potential victims to contact law enforcement. She noted that the FBI has a website to report internet crimes, and does a good job of connecting the dots of disparate reports when they’re made.

“The best thing you can do is to report it so you can potentially stop some other person from falling victim to this kind of scheme,” she said.

Culled from ABCnews