#Woman forced to sell home after catfisher made off with $100K

A mom was forced to sell her home after her own slippery “Tindler Swindler” conned her out of more than $100,650.

Jordan Alexander, 54, was left heartbroken when her whirlwind romance came crashing down — leaving her with a mountain of debt.

She thought she had met the man of her dreams after connecting with “millionaire” businessman James on a dating website.

The single mom-of-two, who lives in New Zealand, was duped by the cruel crook after signing up to the site in 2012.

James painted himself as a hardworking dad who traveled around the globe as a railway consultant while raising his teenage son.

He tugged on Jordan’s heartstrings by telling her he was widowed after his wife passed away from cancer, claiming he had been single since.

Jordan told 7Life: “It wasn’t love at first sight, but he was attractive in a distinguished way. I told myself to be open-minded if this online dating thing was to work.”

The spa owner claims James reeled her in with his tall tales about being a devoted dad, while impressing her with his successful job and showering her with attention.

The mom explained: “He was raising his teenage son ‘Michael’ — similar in age to my girls at the time and he thought the world of him.

“He seemed very keen to integrate our families — family was always important to him. His accent was very exotic — I couldn’t place it.

“It was like a cross between a Spanish and South African accent with odd words coming out now and again.”

After weeks of buttering her up and convincing Jordan he was a high-flying businessman, James asked the 54-year-old if she could lend him $10,065 for work supplies.

She agreed to bail out her new beau and received the money back without any trouble.

James then again shamelessly asked his lover to loan him over $26,842 — before it was transferred back to her in a few days.

Jordan claims to prove his financial status, the fraudster even granted her access to his bank accounts, where she says he had “millions” stowed away.

She said: It was there in black and white, his account balance remained at a healthy $AUD12,218,664. I couldn’t believe it. He trusts me this much?

“It was odd, especially since he had so much money in there, but he didn’t seem like he had anything to hide.”

Excuses

But much like the victims of The Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev, the outrageous requests for excessive amounts of cash then continued.

Jordan ended up taking loans out against her house to finance her boyfriend — before they finally arranged to meet in Hawaii.

But James asked the mom if he could borrow more money, saying he couldn’t access his bank accounts because his “internet wasn’t working properly” while working in Sri Lanka.

The head-over-heels mom then sent him the funds, convinced her wealthy new boyfriend would return it.

But her world was shattered when she realized her dream man was actually a seasoned scammer after she traveled to Hawaii to meet him — but he never showed up.

James began to spout a range of bizarre excuses for the delay in his arrival, claiming his job had been held up in Sri Lanka.

Jordan continued: “He told me this was a big deal and would be the last. Hoorah, then he could rest and focus on enjoying life.

“But he started making up more excuses.”

The scammer then told her his son was attending a school in the US when a hurricane hit — asking her for some money to help the teen.

The mom says she ended up handing over $100,657 all in all — but her dream man never showed up in Hawaii, leaving her high and dry.

She fumed: “With the investment in the day spa and the $140,000 given to James, I needed to sell our family home to get out of the debt.

“I had to deal with my kids, and the spa staff and work commitments. I didn’t really focus on the debt and how I would repay it.”

Jordan was left to dig her way out of the debt and never heard from James again — leaving her terrified to date.

She eventually spilled her secret to her family two years on after being diagnosed with uterus cancer, before eventually deciding to write a book on her horror experience.

“It is really easy to throw stones and be judgmental when you hear about romance scams,” she added.

“I think The Tinder Swindler starts the conversation about how elaborate these scammers are. If we start talking about scams with our friends, families and work colleagues, it shines a light on the issue.

“We need to talk about it and stop the shame of making mistakes when we are in love, lonely and trusting.

“Let’s not be so quick to pass judgment.”

This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission.