Ten more women have come forward as victims of an online romance scam involving a fake Italian-American architect living in Auckland.
The scam involving Bernard Giuseppe was revealed in the documentary Patrick Gower on Cyber Crime which aired on Tuesday, with one victim Thea telling her story.
Thea said she turned to the internet to find love after her late husband died and while dealing with the COVID-19 lockdown. Unexpectedly, a handsome stranger reached out to her on Facebook.
Giuseppe described himself as a 69-year-old Italian American. He said he was a father, architect and animal lover who lived in Parnell, Auckland.
The pair began talking and Thea even shared personal information such as scans of her passport and driver's licence to prove to him he wasn't a scammer.
Giuseppe then asked Thea for help. He said he was overseeing an apartment building's construction and needed money for a resource consent. Trusting him Thea tried to send him $7000 but thankfully her bank stopped the transaction and warned her it was a scam.
But struggling to believe he wasn't real, Thea turned to Gower for help. In his documentary, Gower tracked down the man behind Giuseppe to Nigeria and managed to get in touch with him. Over the phone, the man confirmed he was running an online romance scam.
- If you know anything about this scam please contact news@newshub.co.nz.
After the documentary aired Gower revealed 10 more women have come to reveal they also fell victim to the scammer.
"They have all fallen for the fake that is Bernard Giuseppe," Gower said. This scam is tricking women all over New Zealand. They have lost tens of thousands of dollars to it and many broken hearts."
The Newshub national correspondent said he expects to hear from more people who have fallen victim to the scam."
"I am expecting to hear from more victims of this scam now that it has been properly revealed. If you have information on Bernard Giuseppe please get in touch," he said.
The revelation Giuseppe was a scammer came as a shock to Thea despite the warning signs.
In his documentary, Gower enlisted the help of a private investigator Daniel Toresen who concluded Thea had fallen for a romance scam after investigating Giuseppe's Facebook profile.
A reverse Google image search of his profile photo unveils another profile for an Italian man by the name of Raffaele Barberio.
Ultimately, Barberio had his identity stolen by Giuseppe.
"I'm so sad about this," Thea told Gower.
"[The fact] someone can walk over your emotions and your life like you're dirt… I don't want anyone to go through it.
"I'm really so shocked - I can't believe it."
To determine who the culprit was behind the global scam against Thea, Gower hounded the number Giuseppe used to call her and, eventually, received a response via voice message.
While the man wouldn't name himself, he confirmed he was a Nigerian romance scammer.
"The truth is, in Africa here, this is a way to escape poverty for them," the man said in the message. "They don't want to go into armed robbery, don't want to harm anyone physically. This is the only way we can do this and not feel the guilt too much because you don't get to see them."
But the scammer admitted the romantic side of the scam came with issues.
"You end up getting emotionally attached to these people but that's part of the craft," he said.
"There are victims that have lost more than $10,000. As for Thea, I can honestly say that I don't feel the same level of compassion that I feel for some of my victims."
Watch the full Patrick Gower: On Cyber Crime documentary on ThreeNow.
