I gave my £100k savings to an online Romeo – it was all a big scam… I’ve been left penniless

A WOMAN has shared her heartbreaking story of losing a whopping £100k of her retirement savings to an online romance scam.

Online dating apps, such as Tinder, Bumble or Hinge, are growing in the popularity amongst those looking for love. But not everyone joins the platforms for the purest of reasons.

Unfortunately, one person who knows something about this is an Arizona-based woman, identified only as Connie.

Desperate to raise awareness about online scams and catfishes, the singleton reached out to Fox News where she shared the story - and according to her, it's not just a financial loss.

The incident, she bravely opened up in , also left her with a broken heart.

Connie said she had decided to give online dating a go after her husband of over four decades passed away.

It didn't take long before someone who claimed to be a '‘James Herman’' found her - and Connie seemed to have finally stumbled across something she had wanted for a while.

"He just said things I had not heard, maybe ever or in a long, long time," the woman explained.

"He said all the right things for sure."

According to Connie, the would-be Romeo had presented himself as a Prescott architect who was out of the country for business, but promised to head back to Arizona soon.

Looking back at the romance, Connie said: "I was not thinking with my head. I was thinking with my heart, which is stupid on my part.";

After some time of chatting, finances also became a part of the conversation, and at some point, ''James'' sent her a check for $780,000 - or more than £612k - and sent a screenshot of an online account with a whopping £780k.

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The plan was complicated. But if Connie transferred him almost £100k, her newly found love could escape some legal trouble, and cash the check together.

"I was going all over the place finding money and bitcoin machines.

''It was horrible. One day, I thought I was going to throw up. It was horrible," said Connie.

Appearing on YouTube, Connie said that she later had some suspicions and she immediately headed to the bank to look at the re-payment check.

It was right here where she realised it was fake. The check had been signed by a famous A-list celebrity she had never had any encounter with - Oprah Winfrey.

"It’s a big frickin' joke, at my expense," said Connie.

"Shocked. Like, ‘oh my god, I’ve been taken.’ Taken for a huge ride here."

The massive sum meant Connie's retirement plan was now gone.

After she had started calling ‘'James'’ out, he began showering her in gifts - a mural of their pictures, cheap jewellery, as well as a blanket with their faces printed on.

After a group of experts had done some digging, it was discovered that the mean behind ''James'' photos was someone by the name Donnie Bennett.

According to Donnie, a Rhode Island realtor, his snaps have been used by scammers for years.

"It's weird. It's weird. I feel bad because she was duped, thinking she was talking to me. I feel weird about the whole thing," said Bennett.

"They’ll do anything. They’re nefarious. Anything they can do to break into someone’s circle of trust and break down that barrier."

Since learning the horrific truth, Connie has filed reports with the police, FBI, and the Attorney General's Office.

"It is embarrassing and humiliating putting my story out there, but I really want this guy caught because this is not right," said Connie.

As for ''James' '' profile - it's been deleted. Meanwhile, Connie hopes that the gifts, many of which were shipped from the USA, could prove to be of use during the investigation process.