Portland female Scammed Out Of More Than $40,000 On Online Dating App

„It’s turned my life upside down,” said Katie Powell about being duped for more than $40,000 via an online dating app.

The southeast Portland woman turned to Tinder for a connection and thought she found one with a man who claimed to be in his early 40s, according to NBC KGW 8. Powell recalled constant texting throughout the relationship.

„Instantly, my instinct was like, 'Why would somebody, you’ve never met me, I’ve known you for 10 days,'” she said. “Why would you be asking me for money?”

After more than a month, the man, claiming to be a civil engineer in Turkey with no family support, began requesting money. He even sent a hospital photo, later exposed as a doctored image of former MLB pitcher Phil Hughes from nine years ago.

„I was questioning every single thing and knowing this is not right. But he was able to talk me into the fact that it was right,” Powell said.

Photo: NY Post

The NBC KGW 8 report said for months, the scammer sent fake but convincing documents. He even paid off her credit cards and moved $750,000 into her Vanguard account, but the payments bounced, and Vanguard froze the account. The extra funds eventually disappeared.

„I mean it was physically, psychologically, emotionally, just draining,” Powell said.

She lost over $40,000. Experts warn such scams are rising.

„In 2021, consumers lost over $547 million to romance scams,” said Julie Campbell of JPMorgan Chase Bank, noting AI helps scammers fake identities, voices, and images.

„They’re more rampant than ever before,” Campbell said, noting that one in 10 dating app profiles are fake. Many victims never admit they were scammed.

„They play on people that, you know, have soft and tender hearts and feel like they’re in love,” she said.

„Yeah, I loved him,” Powell admitted. „I curse him every time I’m out DoorDashing,” she said. „Busting my butt to make some more money because of him.”