It ended with the woman US$200,000 ($312,875) poorer and on the verge of bankruptcy after borrowing money from her sister, ex-husband and friends to help Captain Terry Garcia with his plan to smuggle diamonds out of Syria.
In reality, there were no diamonds and there was no Garcia — they were part of an elaborate scam hatched by an international ring of cyber thieves operating mainly out of Los Angeles and Nigeria.
Federal authorities cited the case of the Japanese woman, known only as "F.K." in court papers, when they announced an indictment charging 80 people with stealing at least US$46 million through various schemes that targeted businesses, the elderly and anyone susceptible to a romance scam. Most of the defendants are Nigerians.
We believe this is one of the largest cases of its kind in US history," US Attorney Nick Hanna told a news conference. "We are taking a major step to disrupt these criminal networks."
The investigation began in 2016 with a single bank account and one victim, said Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office. It grew to encompass victims who were targeted in the US and around the world, some of whom like the Japanese woman lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"F.K. was and is extremely depressed and angry about these losses," the federal complaint states.
Her relationship began innocently in March 2016 with an email but soon "Garcia" made "romantic overtures", according to federal authorities. He told her they couldn't talk by ph ..
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