4 minSociety
Woman Loses Nearly $1 Million in LinkedIn Romance Scam
A woman identified as Gaby sent close to $1 million over two years to a man she never met after a LinkedIn message in 2019. The man used the photos of a real person, Brian Haugen, who also spoke about the scam.
A woman who believed she had found a romantic partner on LinkedIn sent nearly $1 million over roughly two years to a man she never met, according to an account she gave on a podcast about romance scams. The woman, identified as Gaby, said the relationship began in March 2019 with a message from a stranger whose profile appeared connected to one of her former colleagues.
That apparent mutual connection lowered her guard. Gaby said she primarily used LinkedIn for business contacts, and the fact that the stranger seemed linked to someone she knew made the profile feel credible. «So I thought, oh yes, she knows him. Okay. That's fine. So let's contact,» she recalled. The connection was not what it appeared to be. Scammers can exploit exactly that kind of information, and the Federal Trade Commission has warned that criminals study social media posts to shape more convincing approaches. The FBI also advises people to be careful about what they make public online because romance scammers use those details when targeting victims.
The deception unfolded slowly. Gaby said the man claimed to work in the gemstone trade and to have traveled to Vietnam. After weeks of conversation, he told her his bank account had been blocked. She sent about $10,000 at first. Then he returned the money, a move that convinced her she was dealing with someone trustworthy. «I started to trust him because he sent me back money,» she said. That repayment made the next request feel less risky. Requests for $10,000, $20,000 and $40,000 followed over time. Eventually, Gaby said, the man told her he needed about $200,000 to cover taxes and customs fees and promised to repay her once the financial problem was resolved.
When Gaby considered traveling to Vietnam to meet him, the man pushed back. According to her account, he said he was under stress and did not want her to see him when he did not look his best. The COVID pandemic then made international travel far more difficult. The FBI identifies repeated cancellations and months without an in-person meeting as major warning signs of a romance scam. Scammers may promise to meet and then cancel because of an emergency or another obstacle.
The story later shifted from business trouble to a supposed health crisis. Gaby said the man claimed he needed surgery. «Suddenly he told me he needs surgery to prove my love. I sent 500,000,» she recalled. By that point, she had been communicating with him for a long time and he had become part of her daily life. He had also returned money before, which made the emergency seem more plausible. Federal authorities repeatedly warn that romance scammers spend weeks or months building trust before introducing an emergency and asking for money. The FBI advises consumers never to send money to someone they have only communicated with online or by phone.
The man in the photographs was real, but the identity behind the messages was not. Brian Haugen, whose photos and likeness were used in the scheme, also spoke about the experience and described what it has been like to watch scammers use his images to target women around the world. Gaby's experience is also featured in «Hey Beautiful: Anatomy of a Romance Scam,» a three-part Hulu docuseries about women who believed they were communicating with the same man. Her account shows why a mutual connection on a social platform should never replace independent verification, and why returning a small payment can be as manipulative as demanding a large one.
