for the end, the garage was a dream of revolution. july 20th on the w. this is marie, a german woman who lost 130000 euros in an online romance scam. she's come to a court in nigeria seeking justice in 2018. marie fell in love online with a man using a fake identity. it was a typical romance scam, sometimes called cat fishing. fraudsters make victims believe they've found true love, then sheet them out of their money. now, these are all records of the transfers i made,

which means i felt under enormous pressure tons, 1751001401900. i feel completely stupid and it's unbelievable what you end up doing in that situation. that's more of that port. most victims never see their money again, and many perpetrators never get caught. but marie managed to do something do victims. can. she worked out her scammers, true identity as i'm, i'm fine. he was supposedly a business man with a good life from italy and the us on. when i exposed him, i found out he was in nigeria. yeah, yeah. now marie is set to meet the man in person for the 1st time in court in the nigerian capital a boot jack. i'm really nervous because i'm about to look him in the eyes. the oaks on the,

the maurice ordeal began in 2018 with a short message. i'm telling you, i said my instagram account of public to reach more people from my business listed . as of yeah, i heard on a quick the type of show time later i got a message that said hello, beautiful. hope i don't bother you. beautiful hope i don't both are you is fine. my thought it was nice because he apologized for disturbing me. so we started chatting this in and check and flickered as of this, about as, as that was the 1st picture he sent me out of the junky, introduced himself as

a business man who wanted to collaborate with me pretty much to this is, this is him with his son, the what at this point got more personal and pretty quickly he told me his back story. she said he was divorced and caring for his children, seeking us. so think something's cannot komatt didn't come or then this kind of picture came along to that. he quickly went into conquest mode, telling me i was beautiful, but he thought i was such a strong woman. of course i was flattered to begin with. i didn't want to contemplate that it might not be real for marie was suffering from depression at the time, but didn't want to burden her family. the man saw his chance, had done all. he suggested trips to the bahamas and other places. i loved the idea of going to the states or having coffee with him by the spanish steps in rome. stuff like that. coffee to think no spanish and at that one. so i hit the

marie gradually began to trust the man before long they were chatting every day. then he asked her for money. i knew how all my alarm bells were ringing. oh, i saw a truck. oh good. he wants money. a lot of us, but i was shocked with that because it wasn't like that. it didn't feel like it could actually be a scam, have to kind of a longer fluid as it's touch base on skim sign, credit to on an item because of what he was like. know how can you say that you should know me by now. after that he goes to me and didn't get in touch, which made me worry. yeah. that's how he was able to manipulate, may, psychologically marie asked for a copy of his passport as security on the top. i didn't notice that it was fake. he promised to pay her back quickly. yeah, i thought okay,

it's just 1200 euros. not that that's nothing, but it would just be a one time thing done. i need it. but things didn't stop there. back in nigeria, the court cases supposed to have begun the see here, i'm just waiting here on my own. maurice lawyer is also wondering why things aren't getting underway. what has happened? i think it said the because it does it seem today. the judge is in the conference. and all the cases split that for the, to the uh being that judge did extra is keeping those dates in november. so you would have to write an application to the parts. and then

there'll be no hearing today, even though marie traveled all the way from germany. come on. wow. it's very different to germany, the ship to watch. and nobody seems that upset or bothered about it trying to. so kind of what else to do and what else is to come on. it seems marie, may have missed her chance to confront her online scammer. but then this happens hey, how are you? what are you at the courthouse? well, i knew i want to see you come to me. whereabouts are you to come to clot 12? 0 god, i'm you don't you just called and asked where i was already been. and i asked him the same thing. he said he was in the courthouse and wanted to know which room i

was in. good order, which is this an invasion called me from certificate audit. i'll try to come. he's on his way. i'm nervous of my hearts pounding and half closed. but the minutes ticked by and the man doesn't appear that's not him. the floor lies. the psychological warfare is typical for him. if he gets in touch and promises something and then doesn't come through hello, well i you, you want to talk to me. yeah, i want to see you, i want to look, look into your eyes and bring your good. uh, also okay. okay. by

the marine, the man agreed to meet in the evening together with their lawyers. they'll discuss an out of court settlement. but there's no knowing whether he'll actually show up the before leaving for nigeria. marie met with cause cross from a german victim support organization called advice serving or white ring. she told them about her experience is fine. i'm to begin with. i might have been emotionally dependent about me then it turned into something more like being a prisoner. i wanted to get out, but i couldn't have, i was always confident. yeah. i so, and you see somebody can see here one things for certain your not to blame in the slightest. yeah. we work on so many criminal cases, and we know that every perpetrator is specially trained when it comes to the way they talk to you and everything else is so hitting, a screechy issued insect. they,

chum, you, they make you feel secure. is this a will do free speech? you're going to be false, get for the thing? have i had got to didn't. so he was there at the time when i needed help. when i wasn't doing well, he filled the void. i was feeling the oddities thought. this book you knew what he was doing, and just had a stroke of most viewed, his understanding was he groomed you quoted me rep, if i felt paralyzed video, everything hurt to be a good time. nicholas smith with the beast. and you've been through so much. sorry to send it intruding. no need to apologize on the hope to have such respect for what you've decided to do. i mean, everyone has that coverage. the scale is wouldn't stand a chance. can you do? you have to postpone your knowledge to the general public. this, these people at the msf marie 1st contacted the

police at the end of 2018, but they didn't take her seriously. now she's decided to try again. hello, i'm officer cross. can i see it? yes, of course at that point it says that the quantum it does off and back then the police man couldn't do anything about my situation. he couldn't help me. and in fact, he made fun of me. that was a real slap in the face because i knew myself that i'd been stupid, and i'd already been really critical of myself. and then to then hear the police say, you've been such a silly girl. as a thought, it wasn't what i would have expected. then the police could have offered to help me then in their filed a complaint and encouraged me to file one or no, i'm sorry. go to norman and michelle. if they'd acted properly back then, i'd probably have got out of the situation much sooner. and i wouldn't have lost so

much money. and i do feel that title on me fucked. is that i can tell you that if a complaint is made in this matter, we will investigate it. you know, not what's in that doesn't answer the question of why the investigation was so incredibly slow. when i filed the complaint before that, i couldn't understand it because i passed everything onto the police, all the fake documents. he sent me chat, transcripts, and so on. why does the victim have to do the detective work themselves of the, the, the, the, to that i'm in terms of that like why can't the police do it? why is this is getting as soon as it becomes about another country, it gets very difficult time because you need law enforcement treaties. women, we're working on that. but sadly, we're not yet to the point where we can call somebody nigeria and say, we have this case here. see what you can do with the mountain codes. the somebody like that you missed in the german state of the various police received more than 450 reports of online romance scams. in 2023 alone, all in,

all scammers took around 5300000 years. the permission is cloud based on say it has always been a part of my life where i can lift myself. i've done drunk strength in content and image, all cost shots and quinta, i've lit a candle because i prayed for protection for the trip to nigeria. my sorts at this and also to give thanks that i made it through the last 5 years. miss baton cuz i think that's the franchise. in nigeria, the court hearing has been postponed and marie doesn't know whether the man she met online will show up for the arrange meetings if she gets stood up again for a whole trip will have been in vain. does she

think he'll still come? a community might, but i'd say it's unlikely signed on the i have been calling the the lawyer to represent you. and i hope you could join us and a lawyer has been given me, excuse me, and he's no longer picking this phone call. and that shows that step when they have us do this, we're mixing peskin too bad for me. i wrote them here, but he hasn't responded to me so sweet. okay, well, thank you. thank you. no problem. thank you know, really he should

have on your desk. i'm expecting a tall man to walk in to be able to look him in the eyes and see that he is really lying. the police on flies, a manual signs. my biggest hope is that we can agree that he'll give me my money back as soon as possible. just maybe even just sort of gift. but this time, the man does show up, together with his lawyer. both want their faces blurred on film. it smires to india, it was a case of sitting opposite him and really giving him a piece of my mind miss. give all you could sense that he had done something bad or to have that. he looked at the floor. he looked away. he was subdued and quiet. nice. he used to shout at me when something didn't happen the way he wanted me to

be forced to know. he was like a dog with its tail between its legs. because when i pull to the bottom, i do actually think he showed remorse and comfortable. you can type but it's still not clear whether marie will ever see for 130000 euros. again, the maria, still dealing with the emotional effects of what happened in 2018. it's been, been a small painting, allows me to get away from my problems and find peace and so long. on a commitment, i've a whole total with the kids. i'm trying a picture where there's a landscape emerging from the fog to monitor, often need to have 4 homes. that's only that's how you feel when you're being scammed. you enveloped in this fog?

tightened down on discomfort and i'm beginning to emerge from it. i bought from you neighbor plaza on is often be costing me. as the ordeal went on, marie began to see things more clearly. as, as a speech, i always done him later when i knew he was a scammer, i asked for more and more photos. on the flat and it started getting ridiculous. wow, how doesn't, and this one, he just photoshop the head on top. it doesn't look really oh, i don't know. at some point, he wasn't hospital for an operation. he sent this picture big equipment and it happened this class and how i'm good with me. i called and emailed the hospital. when do you hear me often? and they said they didn't know of any such patient calls. let me know that was

a got punched in a school district, but marie kept playing along with their scammer. she even gave him more money so as not to lose his trust. eventually she persuaded him to have a video call on that, and there was this guy looking at me and the result i told you, i have to pay the fees. you'll get your money back and you pay $1750.00 us dollars tomorrow. and then you'll have it back soon. the man got increasingly careless. marie was on the verge of discovering his true identity. and i can push and i was actually relieved that he no longer had to lie to me. and he said me a whole lot of photos of himself, his family and friends, find some district, one to another. him. he also send a video you. in the video,

he and his cousins and some friends are walking by an elephant fountain. an electronic component on mine is off. the fountain is quite distinctive. so i took a screenshot and use google image search to find it, published on the fun. for me, it's new, it'll be a real cool in delta state. and i jerry of that have states in the near for a place called mccarthy beach beach. i know marie was able to expose the man and his network. she informs nigeria as financial crimes, authority. the fcc justice. this is what the fcc posted after they arrested him, not in my in the

back in nigeria. larisse quest isn't over yet. now isn't that we've come to been in city because it's a hot bed of fraud. you could, you couldn't even take workshops here to learn the best methods to scam people on, on this weekend. i'm here to get a sense of how it all works in the stuff in the end to see the investor. hold on one. yeah. this is solomon dot, he's going to help me stay safe and that in about and also show me places where there are scammers. but 1st marie and solomon decide to visit a ju ju, please contact. one of his friends got in touch it and threatened me, call it on wooded. he told me that if i didn't pay this thing of the priest would

curse me and my family to mount, who though my name from the number of the can get really upset me, missed a s my tiskus coughing. i was scared laurise decided to find out for herself what's behind the practice the the. 6 the 1st, the due to priest demonstrates his supernatural powers day for them. well as devise the mouth, we'll have to proof as power and they stuff to brooms together and lifted me up with them. they're not, even though you might expect them to come a part. of course, i know the physics behind it with it because i've been here by all biased community

. physic must be physically, it's not magic, just physics. i know civic you know, well, what would you like to do? kill him. what do you want to do for you know, i remember last year, at least with do you want to be there? we don't want to, i don't want him to hard and you don't want to have the she only was how do you do rituals? are common in nigeria, this significant kind of stuff? did you please come on? the power not. it goes from the prices. the previous desk is like desperate power fund to be comfortable in the name of the business is papa. i have his business and i wanted to have medical proof of his business associates and other people. it seems that the man who cheated marie out of her money also has his own ju ju priest . to break the spell,

marie is told to cook some yam. the priest says that she'll get her money back in 3 days to an answer. so it looks nice, but it doesn't have much of an effect on me anymore. on the feeder i felt before has subsided. thank you very much. now, yeah, it's genetic response of the hot tub. and let's see if the magic works to send advance of the focus victims, defense, unemployment, or maybe on sunday when i'm in the plain. i'll check my bank account and see that the money's arrived. larisse still wants to find out more about how the scammers operate. but she has to cut short her trip to benny and city because there's surprising news from a bu jeff. all right, i'm going to be searching, but i am in june and tomorrow i went to the judge so

they gave them the students name and lucy. tomorrow's call. thank you. bye. and it looks like the court hearing is happening after all. so marie is heading back to a budget the but her helper solomon remains in been in city. he's made contact with a group of scammers. in nigeria, they're known as yahoo boys, a term for young man who want to make a quick buck online. their boss is willing to give an anonymous interview about his business. yeah, look into that. we just want to get information from you on the day activities.

another that's good news is here we, we also because it tells us the boise was the 9th dollars that we've, we've done, it's quite bumping for implants. so these boys they're looking for when they are driving. so i get it in full and you'll be like from the streets and he's going to the work. so in utah, so from the streets. so it goes out to hardness. if on next 24 months, you have any money comes from shirts. 604240 ethics is to present that to you. didn't want to take the plant thing that works. okay, so what's your name was and my name is tom on sounds here. ok, i'm hold on. okay, i want ok. she said ok, nice name and said ok, and i will go about lat causing you enjoyed use of saying that. hi. hello, how you doing?

beautiful. how's your day going from day use the conversational stuff on the use of foss features. can you see how even though you are from india, they will not respond to you? you know, they were not married name is thomas bell tires. gina is what she's what we'll have to do and it's sometimes few sort of has 10000 feet in the meanwhile, maria's back in court and a boot you when we get the news, my heart is pounding. i just hope i can get through it. this is iris house has been kind of the man hasn't yet been found guilty in court, which feels strange. i just because i have to present all the evidence most

valuable and because there used to be sympathy and understanding processes and may be also in love to one another. so because i've listened, but it's clear he's been lying to me the whole time i was looking for it. i gave him so many chances to tell the truth. he never did her best. only little by little hope after i was able to prove i knew who he really was there ever because i trusted him and she took advantage of me. yeah. so it was my dignity back before giving evidence in english marie talks to the prosecutor and her new lawyer, one more time. i'll do my best. it won't be good if i'm nervous and worked up and i can concentrate on the touch screen.

take your time the with the hearing about discharge, we have to take our cameras outside the later that afternoon. marie is relieved or statement and court went well, this bottleneck, it was such a relief. last, i'm done this round because i was finally able to let go of everything and values and there's all my left last bad and content is a week ago. i was still so scared to be here and i still felt trapped on the cut. all the prejudices have a back rated. my jewelry is a really friendly country, and i've met some great people or to can and glad. i'm glad that she has had the experience because it's nice to see that not everybody nigeria i'm

really hopeful for the end of the case because i believe most, if not all of you guys as decision coming here has definitely been worth it. little by little. i'm getting back to being the old me, the person i was before i was scammed, been in my, among the eco, indeed a healthy touch. a degree in the, in a grave wasteland. the kitchen gardens project female

trash pickers. how to grow their own vegetables. all women to eat meta improving their diet and income in the process. eco, india. in 30 minutes on the dw the, the, the,

this is the, the, the news coming to live from berlin. political maneuvering theme to prevent the far right from taking power in french, french president vent womack home is hoping the withdrawal of more than $200.00 candidates from parent parents parliamentary run off elections will blunt the impact of the surging far right. national route also coming up more than a 100 people killed in a stampede in the northern indian state and to go to a production official say the death toll is likely to bryce and the danish government under pressure to stop the flow of russian oil. a board on regulated ships the pose a threat to the environment.