Sussex woman conned out of £70,000 by ex-partner said he spun a 'complete web of lies'

A woman who was conned out of £70,000 by her ex partner said he spun a "complete web of lies" during their relationship.

Louise Wynne from Seaford, Sussex, met Andrew Camfield in 2018. She explained their relationship progressed "incredibly quickly".

"He was very caring, and very interested in what I did, the things I enjoyed, the dogs I had," she said.

"And it rapidly took off. And that meant we would spend a lot of time together.

"Very early on he told me that he was to inherit a very large sum of money and it was just in the final stages of probate following his fathers passing.

"But what he said was he had planned for that to come in much earlier and it was taking a little bit more extra time."

She continued: "He found himself short for rental. And I found myself in the position, I love this man, absolutely love this man, trust this man, everybody tells me he's a genuine person and I found myself in a position where I could offer him a short term loan on the cast iron guarantee that probate would come through and he'd be able to pay me back.

"He assured me it would be a matter of days - maximum two weeks - and on that basis that was the first sum of money that went over."

Over time, Camfield took £70,000 from Louise who said she didn't suspect he was defrauding her.

• Louise didn't suspect that she was being defrauded

She said: "I was completely sold on the story that he was telling me which was, I now know, difficult to believe, but throughout the time I knew him it was a complete web of lies, absolutely fiction and I had absolutely not an idea, not a clue."

It was only in June 2021 when she maxed out her credit cards that her son called Sussex Police to report a crime.

Camfield, from Eastbourne, has since been sentenced to seven years in prison.

• Louise said she's been left with huge debts

Louise said: "It's very odd. In a very small way, I still love that person. I was totally drawn in by him as a person and we parted company immediately that that was reported to the police and it's like he's a different person.

"I miss him, I still have strong feelings about him and everything that we had together just collapsed and I'm left with an horrendous amount of debt because of it.

"And the person that I now know he is, I have to have in my mind, is somebody completely different. I don't know the person he turned out to be once we established the truth.

"I'd like to think in my mind, the person that I knew and believed was genuine and he genuinely loved me but if you love somebody you don't treat them like that."

Bernadette Lawrie, Sussex Police’s Financial Abuse Safeguarding Office, explained: "I can't express how important it is for victims of romance fraud to come forward and report it.

"It's a hideous crime and it's one of the most underreported crimes we see and that is not least because the victims feel embarrassed, ashamed and blame themselves a lot of the time for not seeing those sings but in-fact it's clever manipulative, grooming fraudsters that are exploiting them and the impact can be so devastating on those individuals and on their wider family."

Louise has since had help from a financial advisor who specialises in fraud.

Giving advice to others who might be in the same situation, Louise said: "Speak to those that know you and are close to you, particularly if finances are involved. And just be a little bit more cautious when something is unusually fast."

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