Janet Fordham, a 69-year-old retired housekeeper from Honiton, Devon, died in a road accident in Ghana on February 14, 2023, after losing up to £1 million to romance fraudsters over a five-year period, according to multiple reports.
Fordham began using online dating websites in 2017 and was scammed by a man claiming to be a British Army sergeant major stationed in Syria, major media reported. According to her daughter-in-law, Melanie Fordham, Janet sent approximately £150,000 to that individual. The money was transferred via bank transfers, wire transfers at the post office, and potentially through a travel agent, Melanie Fordham told the Daily Mirror.
Banks and the post office eventually stopped Fordham from using their services to transfer money because they recognized it was fraud, according to Melanie Fordham. After her UK bank accounts were frozen, Fordham was further defrauded by a man posing as a diplomat, major media reported. A man named Kofi, claiming to be a doctor in Ghana, then contacted Fordham saying he wanted to help her recover her lost money, according to reports.
Police spoke with Fordham about Kofi but could not further the investigation due to her lack of engagement, major media reported. Despite police involvement, Fordham continued to transfer money abroad using bitcoin and ATMs, according to reports.
At the time of traveling to Ghana, Fordham was living in a caravan at her son and daughter-in-law's home in Honiton, Devon, major media reported. The exact total amount of money she lost remains unclear, as does the specific cause of the road accident that killed her. It is also unknown whether Kofi was genuinely trying to help or was another scammer, and whether any arrests have been made in connection with the fraud.