Lonely hearts and empty wallets: how one scam artist defrauded his elderly victims

One scam artist helped a group of scammers lure their elderly victims into a love plot by pretending to be US officials. All with the intent to defraud them of millions of dollars.

In the quaint city of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, lived a scammer called Dodzi Kwame Kordorwu.

The man helped a group of individuals defraud an unknown number of primarily elderly victims out of millions of dollars.

These scammers would impersonate military men and US diplomats and build romantic relationships with their victims via social media.

After successfully establishing this “romantic relationship,” scammers would ask their victims for money for various things.

Romance scammers often make up lies, saying that someone close to them is in jail, sick, or really needs help to tug at the victim's heartstrings and make them more inclined to pay out.

In this case, the scammers would even get a third person involved who would function as a mediator and corroborate the “US diplomat’s” or “military official’s” bogus stories.

Once the victims were willing to cash out, they were instructed to send large sums of money by mail or by any other commercial means to a particular name and address, which was then funneled through various fake businesses and distributed to the scammers.

Kordorwu reportedly received 250 financial packages from victims, totaling roughly $2 million. The scam artist kept some of the money for his own benefit and gave the rest to the other perpetrators.

However, Kordorwu was caught and has been sentenced by US District Judge Eric C. Tostrud, who commented on the manner in which this scam targeted lonely and vulnerable people.

Kordorwu will spend over 5 years (63 months) in prison with three years of supervised release. He is also expected to pay over $2 million in restitution to the victims.

Why target the elderly?

According to a new FBI intel report, cyber scams targeting seniors are on the rise. In 2023, those over the age of 60 suffered more than $3.4 billion in total losses, an increase of 11% over 2022.

There are different reasons why scammers might see the older adult population as a prime target.

It might be difficult for the elderly to discern what’s real and what's not on the internet. Older generations may just take everything at face value and perhaps haven’t wrapped their heads around this ‘new-fangled’ technology.

With that in mind, this lack of online dexterity and internet know-how could make this demographic vulnerable to online scams.

Some elderly people may feel the effects of loneliness, which could make them more inclined to interact with strangers via the internet.

According to the University of Michigan, one in three older adults aged 50 to 80 (37%) reported feeling a lack of companionship in 2023, which means that older adults could fall into the trap of romance scams.

Romance scammers often pray on those who are more vulnerable, as they’re easier to extort.

They will trick you into believing they’re in it for a romantic relationship until they proceed to ask you for money. After that, your bank account is wiped out, and your “lover” is nowhere to be found.