Romance scam or genuine?
Hi, so our father (aged 70) has been talking to and video calling a woman from the Philippines for the past 6 months or so, in that time he has been sending her money roughly £150 once or twice a month. He is now set to fly out to her in the Philippines to meet her.
Some things to know:
- our father had never been on Facebook ever prior to making an account and meeting this woman, he has never used the internet or had any common sense when it comes to these things
- he has never been on a plane so this is is first time travelling
- my sister contacted the woman via Facebook after we suspected he was sending her money and she admitted he sent her money to help her out
- the woman claims to have 2 children and he has seen videos and images of them, and via video calling with her
- she claims that she works in the city 8 hours away from where she lives so is regularly apart from her children for long periods of time
We have tried talking to him, all his family and close friends and he won’t listen to anyone he is completely blindsided and is set to go. He has no hotel booked, apparently she is booking it. We are contacting her re; this.
I just really want to know has anyone experienced a similar situation, what happened when they flew out if they did? Or is there anyone we can contact, police etc?
We are worried he will land there and be robbed or worse, and again he is new to travelling.