Former romance scammer spills secrets on how he did it

VALE, N.C. — A former romance scammer who ripped off tens of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting victims decided he would turn over a new leaf and explained how he got away with it.

“I would start the conversation with them. I would make them like me. I have a great sense of humor, by the way,” said Christopher Maxwell, a former romance scammer.

Maxwell lives in Nigeria and told Channel 9′s Erika Jackson in a Zoom interview that he preyed on people in North Carolina.

“I do tell them that I am in the military,” Maxwell said. “And I am on deployment, so we’re not allowed to do video calls at camp, or we will be punished if we do.”

Maxwell told Jackson he started scamming in college.

He would find women through dating apps and speak with them throughout the day, which could last years.

He said he would earn their trust and ask for money.

“I would say I use Chase Bank, and I can’t access my bank in Iran or Afghanistan. So I don’t have access to money. And I tell them to please help me with any amount. When I’m back from deployment, I’ll pay everything.”

Maxwell said that one of his victims was an older woman who he managed to scam out of $30,000.

He remembers her being close to his mother’s age.

Maxwell said when she realized she was being scammed, she became physically and mentally ill.

That was when he felt guilty.

Maxwell said that interaction led him to his new job at Social Catfish, which is a company that uses technology to verify people online.

“I was always scared that maybe the cops will catch me, or something like that. But now I’m free,” he said.

Maxwell is using his experience to share a warning: Be careful who you talk to online without meeting in person.

“If you wait and keep on talking to that person, it’s at your own risk,” Maxwell said. “It’s a scam. If no one is going to show you their face, it’s a scam.

VIDEO: More than $500M taken from romance scam victims in 2021, report says

More than $500M taken from romance scam victims in 2021, report says

‘I woke up’

Jackson spoke with a victim of a romance scam similar to one that Maxwell would use.

Lara Katherine Miller, of Vale, is the executive director of a psychology institute. She fell for a scam like the one that Maxwell used to use.

Miller said she went into “work mode” when she got a message from a stranger on LinkedIn in fall 2022.

“He began talking about his difficult life in the loss of his father and so this is why I was presuming that he was interested in help,” Miller said.

That person said he lived in the Gambia, Africa, but that didn’t stop them from quickly growing close.

He would tell Miller that he missed her and asked for photos of her.

Miller said her new, online friend told her he had gotten hurt at work and couldn’t afford treatment.

Miller said she voluntarily sent him $50 but soon after, she realized she’d made a mistake.

There was a turning point.

“Everything that those men were doing on the video from Social Catfish, he was doing to me,” she said. “Everything he was saying, the sequence of events, so I woke up.”

She added, “I was thankful that I got out with only $50.”

©2024 Cox Media Group