Westport woman ripped off in 'classic romance scam'

File photo / NZ Herald

A Westport woman has lost $4000 in what police call a "classic romance scam" and her scammer has threatened to kill a local police officer.

The woman built up a relationship with a man through the internet and phone calls after they first met online in late October, said Westport community constable Paul Sampson.

The relationship got to the stage where she thought the man, purporting to be from Nigeria, was coming to live in Westport and marry her.

He requested money from her to help him get there, which she gave in "dribs and drabs".

Police eventually spoke to the scammer on the woman's cell phone late last month and he threatened to kill the officer if he ever came to Westport.

Police weren't sure the woman was convinced it had all been a scam, even after the man made the threats.

Mr Sampson said victims often became so involved in these situations it was hard for them to believe they had been scammed.

He said the situation was very sad and something the public needed to be aware of.

There was little hope a prosecution would result or that the woman would get her money back.

Trying to take a prosecution would involve dealing with offshore agencies that might be corrupt and network providers that didn't provide information.

Many scammers operated from internet cafes and targeted numerous victims at once.

The woman used the banking transaction company Western Union to provide the money, which was often a red flag for scams. While it was a legitimate company, transactions with it weren't easy to trace, Mr Sampson said.