Online Dating Scams exposed by Knightsbridge Lie Detector Test
Already a booming industry, online dating scams have positively exploded during the pandemic. A Knightsbridge lie detector test indirectly exposed some of them.
Aliya’s Case
Ahmad, Aliya’s brother, was studying at a London University. Aliya was a high flying executive in the financial sector. She and her brother usually met up around once a fortnight but during lockdown visits had been infrequent.
Over the past few months Ahmad has been asking to borrow money almost on a weekly basis. Aliya couldn’t understand why he needed to borrow considering that their father transferred £10,000 per month to his account from the Middle East. Ahmad had no rent to pay as he lived in their father’s property and all the utility bills were paid directly out of their father’s account.
When she asked her brother how he was getting through so much money, he mumbled something about having more expenses and rapidly changed the subject. Aliya wondered if he was gambling or taking drugs which were forbidden in their culture.
Online dating scam
On a recent visit, Ahmad told his sister that he had fallen in love with an American that he’d met online. This was disturbing since the woman looked to be a lot older than he was and wasn’t of their faith. Aliya didn’t believe their father would agree to this.
She asked her brother whether this was the reason he wanted so much money but he denied it. She then asked if he’d seen the woman on video conference and he said he hadn’t because she was in the USAF and away on missions. So they’d only communicated on Facebook, and via the online dating app he was using.
He emphatically denied gambling or taking drugs and was appalled that she had thought such a thing.
Then Ahmad asked to borrow more money. When she refused he practically begged her for it and she said she’d think about it.
Knightsbridge lie detector test
Aliyah called us to ask if we could find out if a Knightsbridge lie detector test could determine what her brother was spending so much money on. She believed he was sending it to this woman he’d met online. One of our London polygraph examiners, in consultation with her, formulated some questions relevant to what she wanted to know.
Aliyah then called her brother to say she would loan him more money if he took a lie detector test. It appeared he was so desperate he was prepared to do anything.
In the pre-test interview Ahmad told our polygraph examiner that he knew his sister was worried about him taking drugs or gambling, but he wasn’t doing any of that.
He was a little surprised to learn that the only thing she wanted to know was whether he was sending money to the woman he’d met online. The test results showed deception when he was asked this.
It transpired that Ahmad has sent thousands of pounds to a woman he had never met and had only seen photographs of her. He hadn’t spoken to her at all, just chatted on Facebook and through the online dating app.
Aliya hired an expert who ran the woman’s photo through a Google image search and her photo was all over Facebook but on several different accounts. She also had several different names.
On further investigation, they learned that Ahmad has been communicating with a number of teenage boys in India who were all pretending to be this woman.
Ahmad is devastated that he has been duped and there is little to no chance of him getting his money back. The fact that it took his sister to order a Knightsbridge lie detector test to stop the scam embarrassed him enormously.
A word of warning to vulnerable people
One more casualty of the pandemic, and there are many, is that people have become lonely in lockdown. Often their only communication is online. Feeling low and depressed, online dating scammers can take full advantage of your situation. If anyone asks you for money online, no matter the reason, don’t send it to them. If they are genuine people, they won’t ask you for it.
Invariably they’ll ask you to pay through Western Union or buy certain types of gift cards. No one who is genuine will ask you to do this. There are men and women all over the world who have been bankrupted after becoming involved in online dating scams. Don’t let it happen to you.
If you know someone vulnerable who may be a victim to these types of scams, but are in denial, call our Free Helpline (07572 748364). We may be able to help.
