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A woman in her 50s from Strängnäs defrauded 18 women of millions.
Aftonbladet has spoken to one of the women who fell for the woman’s made-up sea captain.
– He was charming and nice, but suddenly got into trouble, says “Susanne”.
She pretended to be a male sea captain on social media and conned almost seven million kroner from 18 women over almost two years. She then forwarded the money to an unknown person in Nigeria.
She was sentenced to four years in prison and compensation in the district court for about sixty cases of serious money laundering. The case has been appealed to the Svea Court of Appeal, where a verdict is expected at the end of November.
Aftonbladet has spoken to one of the women who was cheated on love and money.
“He was afraid of pirates”
“Susanne” came into contact with the made-up man on social media. He said his name was Thomas Andersson and he worked as a captain on a cargo ship, which was said to have been off Malaysia at the time.
– He was charming and nice. He felt like a really good friend.
– But then he suddenly had problems, says Susanne.
The problem was a large bag with valuables and cash that Thomas wanted to send to Susanne. He was afraid that pirates would rob him of the bag and wanted Susanne to take care of it until he could pick it up in Sweden.
Then the problems grew. And everything revolves around the bag.
Conversation between the woman and another of the women. Here she has pretended to be the sea captain “Thomas”. Photo: From the police’s preliminary investigation report.
Thomas told Susanne that a boat would ship it to the nearest airport. But when the bag reaches India, the problems become more.
– Suddenly there were customs and flight fees, so the bag ended up in different places because it was too little paid, she says.
To ensure that the bag arrived, Susanne took money from her savings and loans. She made five transfers in total, which together amounted to a sum of SEK 312,000.
– I was completely manipulated, she says.
Did you never suspect that the man was a fraud?
– No, I suspected nothing until I saw this Thomas Andersson in a video on Youtube where he was called a “scammer”.
FACT So many victims of fraud
According to figures from According to the Crime Prevention Council, BRÅ, fraud is the crime category that has increased the most in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. A total of 114,090 fraud crimes were reported in the first half of 2023 – an increase of 26 percent compared to the same period last year.
One of the types of fraud that has increased the most is those committed through “social manipulation”, where the subcategory of romance fraud is included, with nearly 7,000 more crimes. The authority’s definition of fraud through social manipulation reads: “a type of fraud where someone contacts a person and, by exploiting a relationship of trust, induces them to do something aimed at giving the perpetrator financial gain.”
The number of romance scams is relatively few, but the profits are large, according to the authority. In 2022, a total of approximately 1,300 romance scams were reported.
BRÅ writes in a report from 2023 that in a typical romance scam aimed at women, the fraudster pretends to be, for example, “a male surgeon in a war-torn country, a sea captain or a soldier”. The profession signals status, good financial assets and makes it credible that the fraudster may end up in situations that may require urgent need for money, the authority continues.
Even in romance scams aimed at men, the person often says that an urgent need for money has arisen, but then with the help of “paying for an operation or the like, rather than that the fraudster needs money”.
Source: Crime Prevention Council, BRÅ
Read more”Sat in a car and crossed my fingers”
The woman who pretended to be Captain Thomas Andersson is in her 50s. She denies all crimes, but was sentenced in Eskilstuna district court in May to four years in prison and over 6.7 million kroner in damages for over sixty cases of serious money laundering. She denies the crimes and the verdict has been appealed to the Court of Appeal.
Susanne was there during the trial to see who she had been deceived by.
– I was furious to see her. She sat twiddling her thumbs in her car, says Susanne.
The woman is said to have used several different aliases to deceive the women. Sometimes it’s the same story she tricked Susanne with. In other cases, she has pretended to be a general in the United Nations, a doctor in Yemen, a worker on an oil platform outside India or a businessman in the United States. Several of the women have taken out loans to pay the woman.
The reasons why money is needed vary, but the stories always contain some kind of problem and promise that the deceived will be richly rewarded.
Transferred money to “UN military in Syria”
In the district court’s judgment, the woman states that the reason behind her actions is that she herself has been deceived in a similar way. She says that she allegedly received instructions from a “Scott Brown” who claimed to be from Manchester and said he was working as a soldier for the UN in Syria. According to the woman, he must have needed money for his son’s schooling and to finance his accommodation.
She states that she has been in contact with Scott Brown for several years. They should not have met in real life but had a love relationship. The woman is said to have been asked to forward money to his agent in Nigeria. As he also claims to work at the UN. In the district court’s judgment, it is written that there is no evidence that Scott Brown exists in reality.
The woman has no previous convictions. Documents show that she has been on full-time sick leave for several years due to a nervous illness.
In an SMS to Aftonbladet, the woman’s defense attorney writes:
“We are currently waiting for the Court of Appeal’s verdict in the case and I will wait for it before I can make any comments”.
At the end of November, the verdict in the Svea Court of Appeal against the woman awaits.
Real Captain Thomas: “I fight it every day”
The captain that the woman used to deceive Susanne is a captain in real life. His name is Thomas Lindegaard Madsen and he is from Copenhagen. He works for a large shipping company and has over a hundred thousand followers on Instagram.
On his social media, he has for several years urged people not to be deceived by fraudsters pretending to be him.
Thomas has written a warning post on Facebook which reads:
“Once and for all: I know that my photos and my name are being misused by fraudsters and I spend several hours every day to fight it. Always ask for video chat first, if they say no, they are fake! NEVER SEND MONEY TO STRANGERS, DONATE TO CHARITY!”
“Susanne” is actually called something else.