An 82-year-old grandfather committed suicide after losing his savings to cruel scammers who posed as a mysterious love interest on Facebook.
Dennis Jones fell victim to a scam known as ‘pig slaughter’, where fraudsters ‘fatten up’ their victims with a fake online romance before encouraging them to invest in fake cryptocurrency schemes.
Jones’ family said he died on March 4 “ashamed and ashamed” after falling in love with a woman called “Jessica” – despite never meeting her.
Heartbreaking final messages from his children reveal that the loving father and grandfather from Maryland had become increasingly depressed over his financial losses.
He wrote in a conversation to ‘Jessica’: ‘I have been having dark thoughts about my life and that it is over. Sure, it looks like my financial life is over. Bankruptcy, legal and all that BS. It will be very painful and I’m not sure I can tolerate it.’
Dennis Jones, 82, took his own life unexpectedly on March 4 after falling victim to a ‘pig slaughter scam’ after befriending a woman named Jessica on Facebook
His heartbroken children, Matt Jones (right) and Adrianne Gruner (left), had planned to meet their struggling father on the day he died to help him recover from the massive scam
It comes as more and more Americans are falling victim to the vicious scam, which is believed to be mainly run by Chinese gangs. Earlier this year, the Secret Service said it was seeing a “ton” of cases.
Devastated children Matt Jones and Adrianne Gruner said they planned to meet their father on the day he died to help him recover after he confided in them about the scam. Adrianne added that he would move in with her family on their farm in Virginia to rebuild his life.
Matt was stunned to see officers show up at his door an hour after their scheduled meeting to inform him that Jones had committed suicide. The family assumed he would be away for extended periods of time, something he enjoyed doing.
“Our father was always a positive, happy person from the day I was born until six months ago,” he said CNN. “This was literally the only thing that had happened in his life that changed him and just crushed him.”
So-called ‘pork butchers’ are active on various social media, dating and messaging sites such as Facebook, Tinder, WhatsApp and LinkedIn.
After entering their lives and putting victims like Jones at ease, the scammers convince them to invest in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes and even “phantom properties” that don’t exist.
The women convinced Dennis to withdraw his savings, and even when he had nothing left to give and told her about his deteriorating mental health, she demanded more.
Adrianne said he would move in with her family on their farm in Virginia to rebuild his life. (photo: Dennis (right) with his children and grandchildren)
In messages shared by the family, Jones told “Jessica” that he would “have 9,000 in my trust portfolio on Saturday.”
‘I transferred 2,500 a day to the administration and had 1,525 in it. So 4,000 in, now 65,000 tomorrow and 9,000 on Saturday.’
“Jessica” replied, “Is there a limit on wallet transfers now?”
In another message to ‘Jessica’, Dennis told her how guilty he felt for ‘betraying his family’ by giving up all his money.
“He says, ‘These are actually bad people, I didn’t know such bad people existed,’” Jones wrote in a message that Matt read.
“The ultimate pain here is that I have betrayed the trust of my family, this is unbearable,” he added.
Despite all the pain her father endured, Adrianne believes he truly cared for “Jessica.”
“I truly believe he loved the person he believed was behind that profile,” she said.
Matt added that he knew something was wrong when he was told how his father died.
“As soon as I found out it was suicide, I was 100% sure it was a scam,” he said CNN.
In messages shared by the family, Dennis told Jessica he would “have 9,000 in my trust portfolio by Saturday.”
His family described him as “a bit of an activist” who regularly debated politics online and had “a boundless curiosity about current events.” (photo: Dennis with one of his grandchildren)
According to his obituaryDennis had a passion for photography, sailing, playing guitar and volunteering.
He served in the U.S. Coast Guard after graduating from Georgetown University. He subsequently embarked on many careers, including work in the marketing, sales and real estate industries.
His family described him as “a bit of an activist” who regularly debated politics online and had “a boundless curiosity about current events.”
He was married to his late ex-wife and mother of three of his children, Martha B. Haag.
“You know, he died embarrassed, ashamed, you know, financially devastated and heartbroken,” Adrianne said.
“If sharing our story helps someone else or another family, then it’s worth it.”
In August, another loving New Jersey father fell victim to scammers and nearly took his own life.
Real estate agent Michael Holloway, 62, was scammed out of $500,000 by online fraudsters, who lured him with fake relationships before convincing him to empty his entire pension pot.
Holloway was so distraught by the cruel scam that he hit ‘rock bottom’ and was ‘ready to end his life’ – and was eventually rushed to hospital by his worried daughter.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Holloway explained how he was targeted on social media – and initially wary of potential scammers contacting him.
“Whenever I made a successful deal, I would post it on social media, and I started getting random people hitting me up — and they always mentioned cryptocurrency investments. I told them to forget it. “I knew what they wanted and I got them,” he said.
“I really believe he loved the person he believed was behind that profile,” Adrienne said
But in early December 2022, a woman named ‘Hui Hui’, who said she was from China, contacted him.
“I complained to her that so many people were trying to convince me to invest. “It was just a friendly conversation at first,” he said.
Holloway admitted that he was having some problems with his marriage at the time and that he was vulnerable. The online conversation turned romantic – with plans for a possible meeting between the pair.
Several other female victims have also shared their stories with DailyMail.com
Law enforcement sources have predicted that losses from online scams will continue to grow in the coming year as the criminals remain out of reach.
The industry has set up factories and secure complexes where scammers are allegedly held against their will and forced to scam people out of everything they have.
According to FBI estimates, the pig slaughterhouse stole nearly $4 billion from tens of thousands of American victims last year, a 53% increase from the year before.
According to the FBI, Americans have lost a record $2.57 billion to cryptocurrency investment fraud in 2022 alone, which is almost three times the amount stolen in 2021.