Rochester woman loses $57K in "romance scam"

(ABC 6 News) – A Rochester woman lost $57,000 in a romance scam that started in November 2021.

The Rochester Police Department said a 69-year-old woman started talking with a man over Google Hangouts in November. From when they started talking until late January 2021 police said she sent a total of $57,000 in gift cards to the man for various reasons.

Over the course of the relationship, the woman said he made attempts to come visit her. One time he claimed to have made it to Fort Worth, Texas and another time claimed he was in Minneapolis. Each time he said he needed more money to help with travel expenses to make it the rest of the way to Rochester but he never showed.

The woman realized she was being scammed and reported the incident to police in early February. The woman is out $57,000.