I’ve sent my man plane tickets & cash even though we’ve not met – people say it’s a red flag but the romance is real
A HOPEFUL romantic was convinced her mystery Romeo was real even though the pair had never met and she’d purchased him plane tickets and even transferred money.
A woman only known by the name Mary appeared on Catfished after finding herself a potential victim of an online scam.
Mary, from the US, first came into contact with the Romeo, John Santiago, on the popular dating app Plenty of Fish, and the two seemed to hit it off right away.
Despite John, a crane operator, being based in Germany, that didn’t stop the singleton falling head over heels for the handsome dad.
Over the time, as Mary grew closer to John, she started sending money to him, even forking out for plane tickets for the father-son duo to come to the States.
Desperate to find out truth, Mary contacted the YouTube channel Catfished, where she shared her story.
Prior to matching with John, whom she’s never met in person, Mary was in a long ten-year relationship that ended because the partner couldn’t deal with her mum’s dementia.
The 53-year-old John, meanwhile, seemed to be a dream Romeo for Mary – he’s 6’4”, handsome, with dark hair and a muscular body.
”He’s just very respectful and we don’t talk politics, he’s not into politics,” Mary said in the video.
As the time went by, John seemed to grow fonder of Mary too, admitting he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of the life with her.
However, Mary’s fairy tale soon started to crumble slowly, as John requested a money transfer after his card had declined whilst having a dinner.
The one-off payment soon turned into more financial help and Mary even paid for his plane tickets to the US for his son, food bill and Wi-Fi.
FABULOUS FIVER: SPEND £5 AND GET A £25 WELCOME BONUS
In total, over the months they had been speaking, Mary sent money 12 times and estimates it’s around £3.8k.
However, the team at Catfished soon came to dig up the truth behind the so-called John – and turns out, the person behind his profile had used a passport template online to convince Mary about his identity.
After an extensive reverse image search, they finally discovered the real man behind the photos – and his name was Miguel Salvatierra, from Argentina.
Although it felt as if Mary always had her suspicion, it was easy to fall for the catfish scam.
”His profile was different […] – and it was kind of refreshing.
”There were a lot of things that were red flags to me but I was willing to let it play out.”
Having learnt the truth about him, Mary blocked John, hopeful that ”karma” will do the rest.
”I am a true believer in karma. It’s a shame that there’s people out the world like that.”
Since the video aired on YouTube, Mary has decided to take a break from online dating and spend more time with her mother.
People online raced to comments, where one said: ”It’s hilarious that she was told the signature on the passport literally says Patrick Swayze and she still is on the fence about him being a scammer or not.”
Another chimed in: ”When you want something so badly you sometimes abandon all rational thoughts, I feel for this poor woman and hope she finds the love she deserves.”
A third agreed, writing: ”Why do people not understand that a stranger you’ve never met who claims to have fallen in love with you in two weeks is a huge, flaming, screaming RED FLAG?!”