“Trust, loyalty and respect are a must for eternal happiness.” These loving words were written by a man whose real intention was to scam yet another north-east woman for thousands of pounds
You would have a heart of stone not to feel moved by Colonel Michael Shank’s story. Tragedy had visited his life more than once – his parents had been murdered while his beloved wife had been killed in a plane crash leaving him with a young son to raise.
The only thing that kept him going was the routine of Army life, although being stationed in Afghanistan was tough. More than once, he’d had to lead his troop of 70 men on life threatening missions. Having taken several years to get over the death of his wife and parents, he finally felt the time was right to find a new partner, someone who would enjoying living in his luxury house with five bedrooms and a swimming pool in Arizona, and who could share his passions for travelling, camping, country walks and photography.
Hundreds of miles away in rural Aberdeenshire, lively 60-year-old, Sheila, had also been having a pretty tough time of late. After loving and living with the same man for years, she’d finally agreed to marry him, only to discover months later that he was gay. The shock gave her a heart attack and left her disillusioned and exhausted. Not keen to face the world, and perhaps questions from curious neighbours, she found it easier to chat to friends via Facebook.
Fate, albeit a rather cruel version, would bring Sheila and Michael together and lead them on a merry dance before she realised Colonel Michael wasn’t looking for love but an innocent woman he could con into handing over thousands of pounds.
“When I read the P&J story about online romance scammers I couldn’t believe it, as it was almost identical to what happened to me,” said Sheila, a grandmother of one. “Although separated from my husband I didn’t visit any internet dating sites as I was still getting over what had happened to me, but one day I got a message via Skype from an American soldier called Michael who asked me to add him as a friend.
“He said he’d seen a photograph of me and liked it. As I have a lot of friends living in America I assumed we had mutual friends. He sent me photographs of himself in uniform and in civvies. He was a handsome looking chap with a trustworthy face and initially very chatty, telling me all about his life which had been touched by sadness. We always chatted via email as like in Debbie’s story, he told me it was too much of a security risk to have live chats with him being stationed out there in Afghanistan.”
Having been sent copies of Michael’s emails to Sheila, it’s easy to see how, by spinning a web of lies, he managed to worm his way into her affections. Along with details of serving in the Army for 27 years – mostly being involved with peacekeeping missions – he claims to have been widowed for five years, says his parents were murdered in Arizona, he has a caretaker who looks after his son, is a good Christian and has a four-year-old dog called Bingo who always travels with him.
He writes: “The death of my wife got me a lot of pain and that is why I have not been in contact with any woman but I’m now ready to settle down and spend the rest of my life with the serious woman. I’m here in search of true love, a woman with love, caring, honest and trustworthy. I can’t wait to have you in my life and was thinking of you all day and night, even when I was on patrol. It’s hard to love and hard to trust, but finding love and finding trust was a gift from you to me. Relationships should never be taken for granted. Trust, loyalty and respect are a must for eternal happiness.”
“His emails were outstanding,” said Sheila. “He’d tell me constantly that he loved me and that he was very lucky to have me in his life, but he’d also ask why I’d never say I loved him. He’d get annoyed when I’d tell him that I’d never say that to someone I’d never met. I did think, poor man, he’s been through the mill, while his letters boosted my confidence no end.
“After gaining my trust he revealed he was going on a suicide mission with his men and said I should pray they come back alive. If I didn’t hear from him after 48 hours then I should take it that he hadn’t made it back alive. He gave me his son’s email address and said I should contact him and look out for him. At this point I thought – what on earth have I got myself into?
“After a couple of days he got in touch to say he’d survived the mission but had been shot in the leg, and given $800,000 in compensation which he wanted to post to me along with some gold and jewellery – but I hadn’t to tell anyone about this.
“It really freaked me out. By now alarm bells were ringing especially when he asked me to send him my personal details. Then he claimed his son was ill and asked me to send him money to pay for the doctor’s bill, assuring me that as soon as he was out of hospital (from his leg wound), I’d get the money back. I replied that I wished them both well but I wouldn’t be sending details or money. He kept repeating the request for money until I told him I didn’t think he was genuine and that if he persisted, I’d forward his emails to the police.
“I blocked him but I’m now being targeted by other men who want to add me as a ‘friend’ so I’m guessing he’s passed my details on to them. When I get a friend request now from a man I don’t know I send a standard message saying: This is a scam. If you persist I will contact the police.
“There should be a legal process in place which stops these people because, at the end of the day, what they are doing is trying to trick or blackmail you into sending them money.”
When P&J reader Ann Robertson from New Pitsligo opened her YL magazine a few weeks ago, she got a bit of a surprise. For there, staring out from the magazine pages, was a familiar face.
“I looked at the headline on the story about online romance scammers then immediately knew I’d seen the photograph of Frank Miller before. I’d been sent the same photograph by a chap calling himself Antonio Franko. I’d received a private message from him via Facebook along with a request for me to add him to my list of friends.
“His message said: ‘I was stumbling through Facebook the other day and saw your picture. I like what I’ve seen on your page and wondered if we could be friends.’ It was definitely the same man and he was wearing the same blue shirt.”
What’s surprising about Frank/Antonio’s message is that Ann is a happily married woman who has never visited romance or dating sites.
“I’m 63 and blonde and don’t really look my age, and of course for a second or two you feel flattered, but I replied straight away saying thanks very much for your interest but no thanks, I’m happily married and don’t wish any male friends. He sent a message back saying okay, sorry to have bothered you. I didn’t add him as a friend but curiosity gets the better of you. I thought I’d take a look at his page but immediately a message from Facebook popped up saying this account has been stopped until they can verify this man. But what he’d written was very plausible. I also saw he’d recently become friends with three women about the same age as myself so that confirmed I’d done the right thing straight away.”
Ann, a retired sheltered housing officer with Aberdeenshire Council, has since received messages from other strangers asking her to add them to her list of friends on the social networking site.
“I just delete these straight away but it’s rather worrying to realise how vulnerable you are to being targeted by scammers. I’d set my profile to friends only, so I’ve no idea how they got my details. I’d never be taken in as I’m happily married and to be honest I’d rather fill my house with dogs than men! But there are a lot of vulnerable souls out there who are being targeted by those who aren’t interested in a relationship but just want to try and scam you for money.
“I suspect Tony Franko has been caught out and he’s probably still targeting women, but using a different name.”