A prolific romance fraudster is currently serving the latest in a string of prison sentences for scamming women out of thousands of pounds through false promises of love and a luxury lifestyle. But there are fears he could be responsible for "hundreds" more victims. Raymond McDonald, 51, has been in and out jail several times across the last two decades, beginning with a sentence for fraud in 2003 before turning his hand to romance scams.
He last left prison in December 2023 and was soon simultaneously seeing several women he met through dating sites, cheating them out of money and even pretending to marry one victim. By August he was back in jail having left another trail of financial and emotional devastation. Some of the women he defrauded have told the BBC the trauma they suffered at his hands was similar to that felt by victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse.
They say for all the material loss McDonald has caused, the emotional distress he leaves behind runs much, much deeper. "People normally think 'dangerous' is somebody who can physically hurt you, make you bleed, but Raymond hurts people emotionally," says Saad Sheban, the latest detective to put the dating fraudster from County Durham behind bars. Yet there is little sign McDonald sees prison as anything other than a temporary reprieve for the people whose lives he shatters, with police believing the number of victims could reach three figures.
McDonald even targeted one woman while on day release from jail. H.