The moment romance fraud victim knew she'd been scammed by £320,000 swindler

A woman who was conned out of more than £13,000 in an online romance has pinpointed the moment she knew she had been swindled.

The fraud victim - who asked to be known only as Vicky - started a relationship with serial fraudster Emmanuel Scotts after meeting him through the dating website Ourtime.

He told her he was a divorced financial trader as he showered her with attention, and after they had begun a sexual relationship he began asking for money.

But his story was a fiction, and Vicky was just one of several women Scotts was exploiting.

It was when she jokingly threatened to report him - and he exploded with rage - that it dawned on her that she had lost her money forever.

Scotts was jailed for 12 years last November, after being found guilty of defrauding four women out of more than £320,000 following an investigation by City of London Police. One victim lost £232,000.

Vicky, from south Essex, said she wanted to speak out as police forces revealed the cost of dating scams online.

Essex Police said 191 cases of romance fraud were reported in the county - down 13% on the year before - while Action Fraud said the cost across the country was an estimated £88m.

“I hate him for what he’s done,” said Vicky. “I’d not had a significant other in my life for a very long time and I wanted to meet somebody. He came to my home and he knew I didn’t live in luxury. All he was interested in was what he could get out of me.

“He’s was his 50s, very smartly dressed – designer labels, designer watch – he was pristine. He said he was going help me with my business.

"He said he had a penthouse in Chelsea, a Range Rover and had made plenty of money from the stock market.

“He would phone me at night when he said he was trading on foreign stock markets. He told me he’d fallen head over heels in love with me.

“We’d go out together as a family for dinner. He was making promises about everything we’d do when lockdown was over. It was all carefully engineered to make me trust him.”

Scotts then began asking for money, inventing a cover story that he could not access his bank account and wanted £3,000 from Vicky to fund an opportunity on the Hong Kong stock market.

His excuses and requests continued until the bill topped £13,000.

Vicky managed to get him to pay back £3,000 but said alarm bells began ringing when she jokingly told Scotts she would reported him and he exploded with rage.

“I wish I had threatened to report him to the police as it would have jolted him into paying me back but it would have only been another woman’s money,” Vicky said. “In my heart of hearts, I knew I’d been scammed.

“I thought the only way for me to get my money back would be to pretend I still cared for him. He called me the week before he was arrested saying he really missed me, wanted to see me, make love to me. I told him no.”

After not hearing from Scotts for a while, she Googled his name - and discovered he had been arrested.

“A story came up about him being arrested for fraud. It showed that him and his wife had been charged. I read that he was in prison. When I realised he’d scammed me, I hit rock bottom. I felt like I’d let my son down," said Vicky.

Vicky gave evidence against Scotts at Kingston Crown Court and has become friends with the other victims. She is also a member of Essex Police’s romance fraud support group.

She said: “Defrauding people is a business to him. He set me up from day one. It’s all pre-planned and carefully engineered. Every little step is managed. He’s an evil, twisted man. I’d have loved the judge to make him work to pay us all back.

“I was ashamed, I felt disgusted with myself, I felt stupid, I thought I was a good judge of character. I don’t want anyone else to suffer.”

It was one of the biggest news stories of our time - and it's still not over. So what did Boris Johnson know about Downing Street’s notorious parties? With fresh revelations from our Number 10 sources, in their own words, listen to the inside story...