Photos of a real Danish sea captain were used by scammers to trick a Scottish pensioner into handing over more than £50,000.
Images of Thomas Lindegaard Madsen, 52, are believed to have been used to defraud hundreds of thousands of pounds from lonely women around the world, including Australia and the US.
The Danish sea captain has even been forced to make a YouTube video warning women not to send money to men they met online.
It comes after Maureen Gunn, 66, stole almost £15,000 from her mother Jean Marr after being duped by a conman who promised her a new life after the pair met on Facebook.
Gunn sold her jewellery, a car and took out loans to send more than £50,000 to the man claiming to be a 61-year-old UN naval captain called Joshua Jacob.
It is believed that Thomas Lindegaard Madsen’s photo was used to scam lonely women around the world
Maureen Gunn, from Tranent, East Lothian, was convicted of stealing almost £15,000 from her elderly mother to send to romance fraudsters
Gunn, from Tranent, East Lothian, even cashed in part of her work pension to give to her online suitor after claiming his money was ‘stuck’ in offshore accounts.
The lovesick pensioner this week pleaded guilty to embezzling £14,521.60 while acting as her mother’s primary carer between September 1, 2020 and July 31 last year, when she appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.
It led to a message from the real man, whose photo was used to romance Gunn.
Captain Madsen, who is openly gay, said: ‘I’m just stunned that this is the latest thing, but remember that even if you fall in love with a photo or an image of someone, don’t send money to people you’ve never met . met in person.
‘A real captain would never ask you for money, captains make a lot of money themselves, they don’t have to ask women for money.
“And if a man really loves you, captain or not, he will never ask you to send him money.
“So please, please, please, open your eyes and don’t believe everything you see on the internet.
“In any case, don’t send money to someone you haven’t met in person.”
With these types of doctored images, Gunn was tricked into believing she was in a relationship with the sea captain
Captain Madsen has created a YouTube video warning people about the dangers of online romance fraud
The fraudster sent several photos claiming to be of him aboard his ship, including a fake photo he said was taken in his mansion showing a bedroom with large portraits of him and Gunn on the walls.
After becoming ensnared in the romance scam, Gunn began stealing money from her own mother’s bank account after receiving power of attorney for her welfare.
She made numerous withdrawals from her 89-year-old mother’s account and made a bank transfer of £4,250, all of which was handed over to the online scammer.
The court heard the pensioner ‘foolishly’ sold her belongings to raise money to send to the scammer and has since been ‘ostracised by her family’ after her crime was exposed.
Gunn told the Mail this week that the scammer had “taken everything from me.”
She said: ‘I got emails from about eight different people saying how sick he was and that he would die if I didn’t help him, and that it was my fault he came over.
Gunn’s brother David Marr branded her a ‘silly old woman’ after her conviction at Edinburgh Sheriff Court
‘They said he was in hospital in London and because he wasn’t a British citizen he had to pay privately.’
At that point, she said, he had cheated her out of all her money and started looting her mother’s account.
She said: ‘He promised me he would pay it back and he never did. He came here, we were going to spend the rest of our lives together.”
Gunn was confronted outside the courthouse by angry relatives, including brother David Marr, who said the family had been “torn apart” by his sister’s devious act.
Mr Marr, 68, said: ‘She is a crazy old woman for believing this man online. We all told her it was a scam but she kept sending him money.
“She really split the family up because of what she did.”
Gunn escaped a prison sentence and was instead given a three-year supervision order and ordered to carry out 140 hours of unpaid work as an alternative to custody.
Sheriff John Cook said the offense was ‘an appalling breach of trust’ and also imposed a compensation requirement of £14,521.60, to be paid at the rate of £150 per month.