> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1021026/Predators-paradise-How-divorcees...
>
> British divorcee falls in love with a holiday toyboy - then realises he
> just sees her as a meal-ticket. So far, so depressingly familiar. But
> Sarah's story has a sinister and utterly unexpected twist.
>
>
> Duped: Sarah Matheson with her Indian lover Farouk, who conned her out of
> £80,000
>
> Farouk's soulful brown eyes looked deeply into those of his girlfriend's
> as they sat at a beach bar, the waves of the Indian Ocean lapping feet
> away.
>
>
> 'I cannot get a loan here, and the money will safeguard our future,' he
> said to her. 'I will be able to build up my business and then I can take
> care of you for ever.'
>
>
> Without hesitating, Sarah Matheson handed over a cheque for £60,000. This
> was money from a loan secured against her detached four-bedroom house in
> Surrey.
>
> But home, for the divorced 54-year-old IT systems analyst, seemed a very
> long way away at that moment.
>
> At the time, Sarah, who has three grown-up children, was renting out her
> house and had taken a sabbatical from her high-powered career.
>
>
> Against the advice of her children, she had flown to Calangute, in the
> northern part of Goa, India, to spend time and plan her future with her
> Kashmiri boyfriend, Farouk.
>
>
> He had told her he was in his mid-30s. In fact, she found out later when
> she looked at his passport that he was 29.
>
> 'I know everyone reading this will be shaking their heads and thinking:
> "How could you be so gullible?"' she says. 'But imagine my position. I was
> a divorcee who had been on my own for ten years. I had a reasonable amount
> of money, my own stylish home and a great career.
>
> 'But I was bored stiff. My children had left home, and I was looking into
> a bleak and lonely future. This beautiful young man offered an escape. . .
> Not just to passionate sex and attention, but also the chance of a new
> life.
>
>
> 'I could live here in this stunning place, with the sea and the sun, for
> the rest of my days. He painted such a vivid picture of our future
> together that the fact he needed money seemed so unimportant, so trifling.
>
>
> 'He was so very persuasive and plausible, saying that it was almost
> impossible to borrow money in India and that this money would not only
> secure our futures but that he would pay me back in full. I was in love,
> and looking through rose-tinted glasses.'
>
> A harsh home-coming
>
> But Sarah was about to become one of the thousands of mature British women
> falling victim to young foreign men who prey on them in holiday
> destinations around the world.
>
>
> Today, she is back home, alone, in Surrey. There is no lover with the
> soulful eyes and promise of a sun-drenched romantic future.
>
>
> Instead, she has letters from her mortgage and loan company telling her
> that she must pay the arrears or she will be evicted from her home.
>
> In tears, she says: 'I cannot believe I fell for this. It is a scam, an
> absolute con. The reason I am speaking out about what is a deeply shameful
> episode in my life is that I desperately want to warn other women like me
> that you must not fall for this trick.
>
>
> 'It will ruin your life. If I could, I would put leaflets on the planes
> flying to holiday destinations like Goa, warning women to beware.'
>
>
> Since Sarah's world came crashing down in May of last year, she has been
> fighting with the Goan government and legal system to try to bring a case
> against Farouk.
>
>
> But her British solicitor has warned her it will be virtually impossible
> and potentially very costly. Not only that, but she has been in contact
> with five other British women who have been scammed the same way by
> Farouk's friends, and is keen to begin a campaign to stop this happening
> to anyone else.
>
>
> Conned: Sarah gave her Kashmiri boyfriend, Farouk, a cheque for £60,000
> secured against her house to help him 'build up his business'
>
> 'I am an intelligent woman, and yet I fell for his lies, hook, line and
> sinker,' Sarah admits. 'Even the Goan tourism minister has admitted to me
> that this is a problem. Women holidaymakers are tremendously vulnerable.
> They are being targeted from the moment they step off the plane.'
>
>
> What happened to Sarah is a classic case. 'I went to Goa on holiday with a
> girlfriend, with no thoughts whatsoever of meeting a man. I simply wanted
> to chill out, get a tan and read a lot of good books. We spent the first
> day on the beach, and then went to an attractive thatched beach bar for
> lunch.
>
>
> 'During our meal, I became aware of a man staring at me. He was
> darkskinned with black hair, typically Indian-looking, and very attractive
> with big brown eyes. His approach was very casual. He wandered over and
> sat down next to us.
>
>
> 'He said: "Hi, how are you? How long are you staying in Goa? Where are you
> staying?"'
> Sarah says there was nothing about his approach that rang alarm bells. 'I
> just thought he was a very friendly, nice guy. He spoke good English, and
> he told us that his family was very poor and that he worked to send money
> back to them in Kashmir.
>
>
> 'I thought he was maybe late-30s, and he told us he ran a chain of
> jewellery and furniture shops.
>
>
> 'I did think it was a bit odd that this "businessman" would be hanging
> around a beach bar in a T-shirt and jeans, but it was a different
> culture.'
>
>
> He invited them both out for a drink that evening. He said he had a friend
> who would join them.
>
>
> 'We met up that night, and went to a cheap cafe and ate a prawn curry. It
> was a fun evening, relaxed, and there was no pressure. But he kept
> catching my eye, as if he was attracted to me.
>
>
> 'Despite my reservations, I found it exciting. He was so good looking. I
> know it sounds unlikely, but I really felt he liked me - even though I
> was a size 16 at the time.'
>
>
> Farouk told Sarah he had just come out of a long relationship, and that he
> was feeling vulnerable. On the second night, he tenderly kissed her, and
> Sarah says she felt so many old emotions flare into life.
>
>
> 'His friend was trying to kiss my friend too, but she would have none of
> - she was married, and told him so.'
>
>
> Inseparable
>
> That week, Sarah and Farouk became inseparable. 'My friend told me I was
> being silly, but I was caught up in the romance of it all. We'd meet up
> every night after he had finished work, and twice we slept together.
>
>
> 'We used contraception, and I did not even think I was taking a risk. He
> was so tender and loving. When we said goodbye to each at the hotel before
> I flew home he was in tears. He said he loved me.'
>
>
> Sarah was on cloud nine as she flew home. 'My friend said I had to realise
> this was simply a fling, but I convinced myself this was a proper
> relationship. We rang and e-mailed constantly each other, and two months
> later I flew back on my own to Goa to see him.'
>
>
> Throwing herself into his arms at the airport, Sarah was overjoyed. 'We
> spent three weeks together, lying on the beach, eating in bars, sipping
> wine by the sea. It was idyllic. Yes, I usually paid for everything, but
> Farouk said his business was going through a bad patch.'
>
>
> Leaving him was so hard that, a few months later, she decided to take a
> year's sabbatical from her job and rent a house in Goa.
>
>
> 'My family thought I had gone insane,' she says. 'But I was totally in
> love with him by now. I rented out my house, put all my financial affairs
> in order and flew to Goa.'
>
>
> She rented a two-bedroom villa in a palm grove a mile from the coast in
> Calangute, and settled into a dream-like, surreal existence.
>
>
> 'My rent was only a £100 a month, whereas I was getting £600 a month
> for my home in Surrey, and I felt I was flush with money.
>
>
> 'I cooked and cleaned, waiting for him to come home from work, and sat on
> the beach or in the garden reading. During the days, I'd wander through
> the markets, chatting to local people. It was wonderful - like a
> permanent holiday.'
>
>
> Several of her friends from the UK came to stay, and although they were
> suspicious of Farouk, remarked that Sarah had never looked better.
>
>
> 'The weight fell off me and I was so brown from lying in the sun. I felt
> ten years younger. Farouk was so attentive and loving, and we talked about
> us getting married, or him coming back to England with me.'
>
>
> Money, Farouk told her, was the problem - and Sarah happily handed it
> over. Farouk then announced he needed a visa to come and see her in
> England, but he couldn't get one.
>
>
> Sarah, who felt she needed to check on her home, flew back alone to the
> UK. 'At home, I sent a carefully-worded sponsorship letter via Farouk to
> the Goan authorities, asking them to grant Farouk a visa.'
>
>
> Then, bizarrely, she received a phone call at home in Surrey from an
> Englishwoman, of about her age.
>
>
> The first warning
>
> 'She asked me how to get a visa for her Indian boyfriend. Like me, she was
> a professional woman, and I asked her how on earth she had got my number
> and knew my situation.'
>
>
> The answer sent the first warning chill down Sarah's back. 'She told me
> her boyfriend was a friend of Farouk, and that he had shown his friend my
> sponsorship letter. This woman said her boyfriend was "desperate" to get
> to the UK.'
>
>
> The two women agreed to meet up. 'This was when my world fell apart,' she
> says. 'She showed me photos not only of herself with her Indian boyfriend,
> but also pictures of Farouk with his arm around one of her girlfriends.'
>
>
> Together, the two women began to put the pieces of the jigsaw together.
>
>
> Sarah decided to fly out and confront Farouk with the photographs. By now,
> she had given him an incredible £80,000 - £20,000 from her savings, and
> £60,000 from a bank loan which was ostensibly to save his business.
>
>
> 'He denied everything, in floods of tears. He said he was not having a
> relationship with the woman in the photo, it was all lies.'
>
>
> By now, however, Sarah knew the trust had gone. 'I realised I had been
> such a fool, and had been duped out of this money. I told him he had to
> pay me back, and that our relationship was over.'
>
>
> Back at home, she waited for the money to arrive. Although she was now
> working again, her finances were suffering.
>
>
> 'He sent me a few hundred pounds, but then nothing. I called his bank -
> he'd shut the account the money was in. He refused to return my calls.'
>
>
> Even worse, it occurred to her that she might have put her health at risk,
> and had an HIV test. 'Waiting for the results was horrific, but thank
> goodness they came back negative.'
>
>
> With increasing panic, Sarah got in touch with a solicitor, who said it
> would be a very hard case to fight. She now knows Farouk spent the money
> on land, and is building himself a house.
>
> Insult to injury
>
> She has also discovered her sponsorship letter was distributed by Farouk
> to at least five of his friends having relationships with British women,
> all of whom have since contacted Sarah as she put her address and phone
> number on the letter.
>
>
> 'I told them all bluntly this was a scam, and that their "lovers" were
> simply out to fleece them. I was met with a range of reactions - blind
> disbelief, tears and anger.'
>
>
> She says many, many more British women have been conned by young men. 'I
> know they are buying them gifts, sending money, while they swear undying
> love. Wake up and smell the coffee. I know one woman who has already lost
> her home.
>
>
> 'They are so embarrassed to talk about it, but someone has to stand up and
> admit what is happening. So far I am one of the few, but I hope more will
> talk about it openly. Quite simply, it is ruining lives.'
>
>
> Sarah is now facing up to the fact that she may have to sell her home
> before it is repossessed.
>
>
> 'I can't afford to repay this loan and my mortgage. I am beside myself
> with anger and grief. I can't believe I threatened my own security by
> being so stupid.'
>
>
> Sarah would like the Indian government to admit this is a major problem
> for tourists and take some action against men like Farouk.
>
>
> It has all proved an expensive lesson for Sarah. She says: 'I love my
> home. It is my security, my safe place, and I have put my own safety and
> my children's inheritance in jeopardy for a senseless fling in a hot
> climate.'