COST OF LOVING
How an innocent Facebook scroll was key to exposing UK’s biggest romance fraudster & left women ‘shocked to the core’
Even his own mother - who he told victims had passed away - described him as a 'full sham'
WE'RE all guilty of it... sitting on the sofa, mindlessly scrolling through Facebook. But for one woman an innocuous post left her heartbroken and feeling as if 'her whole world was falling apart' as it led her to realised she was prolific fraudster, Raymond McDonald's, latest victim.
For the last two decades, the 51-year-old from Country Durham, has been in and out of jail and is thought to be one of the biggest romance fraudsters in the UK.
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McDonald's dalliance with fraudulent crime first started in 2003 when he was first put behind bars but soon after his release in December 2023 he moved onto elaborate romance scams.
He would promise women a luxurious lifestyle but con them out of thousands leaving them emotional and financially ruined.
After leaving prison McDonald started seeing several women at the same time who he met through dating sites.
The prolific fraudster cheated them out of money and even attempted to marry one of the victims.
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Luckily, it didn't take long for McDonald to be caught as in August of this year he's found himself back behind bars.
The victims have now bravely decided to speak out, describing to the BBC the level of trauma that of sexual assault and domestic abuse they were subject to as a result of his 'charming' ways.
One of the women who shared her story said they first met McDonald last December through a dating site - almost immediately after her was released.
Here, he told her that he was working over the festive period in a secretive military role, but wanted to stay in touch with her during Christmas.
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The woman, named Paula, recounted: ''(He) just made you feel, I don't know, wanted. Special. I hadn't been in a relationship for such a long time. I suppose in hindsight, it was what I wanted to hear.''
However, as it later turned out, McDonald wasn't just talking to Paula - he formed relationships with numerous women, arranging to meet and telling them he had just divorced and was starting a new job.
One claimed the 51-year-old had allegedly told her he needed to be on shift at the probation service in the evenings - when in reality he was reporting himself to probation.
Inside the world of romance scammers who trick up to one in three Brits using deepfake videos
All the women who came forward to share their story described McDonald as warm, genuine - and even vulnerable at first.
However, whilst seeing the vulnerable women, he would taking money from them to pay for things that would never materialise - such as luxury items or house deposits - while his victims were portrayed the false image he had property abroad as well as posh cars.
While he maintained the relationship, McDonald jetted off to the Middle East to tie the knot with his partner - a person he had only been in a relationship with for weeks.
Police reckon the fraudster paid for the travels using money scammed from other victims while making arrangements and showing his partner fake evidence their marriage was legal under local law.
The woman never had any reason to think it was all a sham as they returned from their ''honeymoon'' in March - just four months after he had been freed from jail.
However, as time went on, some of his victims started to grow suspicious of who he was - and Paula was concerned, she turned to Clare's Law, which can be used by people to request information about a partner's previous offending.
Are We Dating The Same Guy?
Another victim who had fallen for McDonald's charming character also began to question his victims, after he pressured her to pay him more money to purchase luxury gods that never appeared - and decided to post about him in a Facebook group called Are We Dating The Same Guy?.
The responses she got were shocking.
One of the members of the page showed the victim a newspaper article in which the 51-year-old was described as ''gutless'' which was seen by his victim.
With her new hubby sitting in another room, the woman went over the comments and said: ''My world just fell.''
How to protect yourself from scams
BY keeping these tips in mind, you can avoid getting caught up in a scam:
- Firstly, remember that if something seems too good to be true, it normally is.
- Check brands are "verified" on Facebook and Twitter pages - this means the company will have a blue tick on its profile.
- Look for grammatical and spelling errors; fraudsters are notoriously bad at writing proper English. If you receive a message from a “friend” informing you of a freebie, consider whether it’s written in your friend’s normal style.
- If you’re invited to click on a URL, hover over the link to see the address it will take you to – does it look genuine?
- To be on the really safe side, don’t click on unsolicited links in messages, even if they appear to come from a trusted contact.
- Be careful when opening email attachments too. Fraudsters are increasingly attaching files, usually PDFs or spreadsheets, which contain dangerous malware.
- If you receive a suspicious message then report it to the company, block the sender and delete it.
- If you think you've fallen for a scam, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or use its .
Shortly after, she made an excuse to leave and instantly contacted the police, and the fraudster was arrested just hours later.
McDonald's own mother describes him as a ''b***** big liar'' and a ''full sham'' revealing that he told women he duped that she had passed away and even pretended to go to her funeral on Valentine's Day.
So who is he, Raymond McDonald?
The romance fraudster was dishonourably charged from the army in 2000 and worked in a supermarket and at a factory packing chickens for a bit before turning to committing fraud.
He got his first prison term in 2003, followed by a suspended sentence four years later, on top of four more jail stints.
After being released for the term he was sentenced to in 2019, he immediately began scamming another woman and was recalled to prison.
In the latest case, just the two weeks after of his release last December, McDonald was back on dating sites looking for potential targets, which devastated women once they found the truth.
One said: ''My whole world fell apart.''
Another victim recalled that once detectives turned up to her front door and explained what had happened, she said she ''couldn't get out of bed''.
''People normally think 'dangerous' is somebody who can physically hurt you, make you bleed, but Raymond hurts people emotionally,'' said detective Constable Saad Sheban, the latest to put the fraudster behind bars.
According to the detective, there could be ''hundreds'' of more victims living with the consequences of McDonald's lies.
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Following the latest arrest in March, the 51-year-old initially denied all wrongdoing but later pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud by false representation and was jailed for four and half years at Newcastle Crown Court in August.
The judge noted the emotional impact on the women was much greater than the financial loss suffered.
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