for the end, the nicaragua, a dream of revolution. july 20th on d, w. the . this is marie, a german woman who lost 130000 euros in an online romance scan. 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 was i felt under enormous pressure tons,

1751001401900. i feel completely stupid and it's unbelievable what you end up doing in that situation with one of the most victims never see their money again and many perpetrators never get caught . but marie managed to do something, few victims can. she worked out her scamarus true identity and 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. now maria's set to meet the man in person for the 1st time in court in the nigerian capital, a boucher offensive. i'm really nervous because i'm about to look him in the eyes. the oaks on the, the,

the maurice ordeal began in 2018 with a short message. and i said my instagram account to public, to reach more people for my business. and we stayed home until yeah, i mean, on clips. it's a short time. later i got a message that said hello, beautiful. hope i don't bother you. beautiful. hope i don't both are you. so i my thought it was nice because he apologized for disturbing me throughout. 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 my personal and pretty quickly he told me his back story just said he was divorced and caring for his children season. so hopefully somebody cannot komatt didn't come or then this kind of picture came along to that. he quickly went into conquests 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. poor marie was suffering from depression at the time, but didn't want to burden her family. the man saw his chance to have 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 is

a bad one. so i hit in marie gradually began to trust the man. ready 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. why don't ask but i was shocked because it wasn't like that. it didn't feel like it could actually be a scam i pick on it. so i'm just fluid as this touch base on skim sign credit to online because of the 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 me 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. and then 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. so what is happening? i think it said the because it does it seem today. the judge is the conference. and all the cases split that for the, to the uh, being that jobs did x to give you those dates in november. so you would have to write an application to the quotes.

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 to all kind of what else to do and what else 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? the courthouse? well, i knew i want to see you come to me for a bounce or you come to court 12. 0 god, i'm you can you just called and asked where i was already been and i asked him the same thing. he said he was in the court house and wanted to know which room i was

in. good order. and what is this an investigation called me for me to fill out the outside to a home. he's on his way. i'm nervous of a hi hearts pounding and have but the minutes ticked by. and the man doesn't appear. that's not him. the more lies the psychological warfare is typical for him. maybe if he gets in touch and promises something and then doesn't come through. hello, well i, you, do you want to talk to me? yeah, i want to see you. i want to look, look into you guys. ok. i'm bring your lawyer. good. uh also. okay. bye. 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 spa, i'm to begin with. i might have been emotionally dependent of me then it turned into something more like being a prisoner. i wanted to get out, but i couldn't have i was i was confident. yeah. i. so i 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 screeching issued insect vague chum you, they make you feel secure. is this a will do free speech? you're going to be false. keep one to 3. have i had got to didn't. so he was there at the time when i needed help. when i wasn't doing well with me, i'm going keep silva void. i was feeling the oddities thought, be good if you knew what he was doing and just thought that will give us this understanding. was he groomed? you quoted me rep if i felt paralyzed video. everything hurt to be a good time explicitly. smith with the beast, and you've been through so much. sorry. i've seen it including no need to apologize on the hope i have such respect for what you've decided to do. i think everyone has that coverage to scan is wouldn't stand a chance. can you do you have to pass on your knowledge to the general public this, this, the but i did my cfo 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 at the thought it wasn't what i would have expected. then the police couldn't have offered to help me then and there was filed a complaint and encouraged me to file one. no, i'm sorry. go to norman and michelle. if it acted properly back, then i probably have got out of the situation much sooner. and i wouldn't have lost

so much money and i do need to see the title on fucked. is that i can tell you that if a complaint is made in this matter, we will investigate, said, you know, not what's in fact, doesn't answer the question of why the investigation was so incredibly slow. when i filed the complaint for the same, 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? these are the, the, to them, it comes up at 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. home in the book, 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 up and draw 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. yeah for a bit 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 of the might, but i'd say it's unlikely find 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 one, and that shows that step when they have us do this, we're mixing peskin too bad for me. i wrote that i'm here, but he hasn't responded to me so sweet. okay, well, thank you. thank you. no problem. no, 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, the money. my biggest hope is that we can agree that he'll give me my money back as soon as possible. maybe we'll just sort of get but this time, the man does show up, together with his lawyer. both want their faces blurred on film. smart is this indian because 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. 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 in a pool to the bottom, i do actually think he showed remorse to customer a good site. but it's still not clear whether marie will ever see for 130000 euros again, the re is 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, things along on them and i have a whole total with the kids. i'm trying a picture where there's a landscape emerging from the fog monitor often need to have for cones. that's the, that's how you feel when you're being scammed. you enveloped in this fog?

tightened them on discomfort, and i'm beginning to emerge from it. i definitely need the 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 slide, and it started getting ridiculous. wow. how doesn't answer in this one, he just photoshop the head on top? it doesn't look really oh, i don't know. at some point, he was in hospital for an operation. he sent this picture, this equipment, and it happened this class, the house, and 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 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 about on i condition. 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 sent 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 or no 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 scan people on, on this weekend. i'm here to get a sense of how it all works in the stuff in industry. the investor telemundo. yeah . this is solomon. said that he's going to help me stay safe and about and also show me places where there are scammers. but 1st marine solomon decide to visit a ju ju priest after the contact. one of his friends got in touch it and threatened me to 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 do my name for me for food, not the can get really upset me miss? yes, my teeth coughing. i was scared laurise decided to find out for herself what's behind the practice the the. 6 the 1st the do, do priest demonstrates his supernatural powers that we often then think well as devised. the mouth would have to proof as power. they stem to brooms together and lifted me up with them. did not even though you might expect them to come a part. of course i know the physics behind it was it. that man hangs by. by

a committee physic must be physically. it's not magic, just physics. i'm fine with it. you know, well, what would you like to do? kill him. what he wanted to do for the last year. at least we do. you want to be there. we don't want to, i don't want him to hot and you don't want to accommodate the issue was how much ju ju rituals are common in nigeria. the significant kind of stuff did you please come on? the power that goes from the heart of the appraisals. the previous this is my desperate job, how to find out the comfortable in the name of business is papa. i have his business and i wanted to have to make a 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 because i'm the fever i felt before has subsided. thank you very much. now. yeah, i finance goose fund of the that's all. but 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 and yes i am 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 a young man who wants to make a quick buck online. their boss is willing to give an anonymous interview about his business. oh yeah, look into america. 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, the work, the night dollars that we've, we've done it 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 client doing that as well. okay, sounds good to what's your name was in to my name is tom on town, sir. okay, i'm hold on. okay, i want. okay. is it she said, ok, nice thing, or is it just a go level that i would go about like causing the intro to use or 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 g. now the words, she's what we'll have to do and it's something that if you sort of has to 10000 feet in the meanwhile, maria's back in court and a boot you we get the nice my heart is pounding. i just hope i can get through it because i how the man hasn't yet been found guilty in court. which feels strange by 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 started because i would it's clear he's been lying to me the whole time. i was looking for and i gave him so many chances to tell the truth. he never did. how did you get more? yes, the only little by little after i was able to prove i knew who he really was there ever cuz i trusted him and he 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 work to but i can concentrate on some

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 on this round because i was finally able to let go of everything from vantage and there's all my left last that in content is a week ago. i was still so scared to be here and i still filled trapped. 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 2 because i believe most, if not all, i also did to see 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 many visitors, the screening communities and the environment.

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