A single mother scammed out of £18,000 after being “lured” into “trading” by a dating app user and signing up for online work, is urging others to “listen to your gut feeling”. Earlier this year Gabriella Kranyik, 46, a personal fashion assistant who lives in north-west London with her daughter Stella, 18, started looking for ways to make extra money as she was “struggling financially”. She said she met someone called Gabriel on the dating app happn – although she now believes this was a “fake name” – and within two weeks of speaking to him she was “lured” into trading, where she believed her money would be invested.
After making payments of £600 and £1,500, Gabriella said she was told her investments had generated 52,406.60 US dollars (£39,078.35) in profit, but after being told she needed to pay taxes and other fees to retrieve the funds, otherwise her credit score could be affected, she realised it was a scam.
Having lost about £10,000, she then signed up for online work to recover the money, which involved completing tasks, making payments, and withdrawing the profits, but as time went on, she discovered this was just another scam. She said she has borrowed about £11,000 from friends and family for both scams, which was “embarrassing” and “humiliating”, and she has since launched a fundraising page to help her pay her rent and bills and repay the money she owes. Gabriella contacted Action Fraud, explaining each scam in detail, but.
