East Dene Woman Cheated By ‘African Prince’
2016-09-29
An East Dene mum of four says she has been left ‘devastated and humiliated’ after falling victim to what now appears to be a cruel email scam.
It all started back in February when Britney Butler (22) received an email out of the blue from someone claiming to be an exiled African prince needing help. The email claimed that the prince had been forced out of his country by civil war, and that he’d left his fortune of over $20 million behind. He said he needed someone in the UK to help unlock the funds, and that’s why he was contacting Britney. The email went on to ask for Britney’s bank account details so the money could be deposited there. The Prince said that in return for her help, she could keep half the money – $10 million.
Despite warnings from friends and family that it was some kind of scam, Britney went ahead and sent her account details. A couple of weeks later, she got another email saying the funds were about to be dispatched, but £500 was needed to get them released. Again, Britney was warned that this was a scam by friends and family, but she borrowed the money by pawning her 65″ TV at Cash Converters and transferred it.
Nothing happened for a couple of weeks and so Britney emailed the Prince again. He got back in touch and said there’d been a slight hitch and he needed another £500 to ‘oil the wheels’ as he put it. Britney decided to break into the cash she’d put to one side for her eldest daughters first tattoo, and sent it to the Prince.
She received an email back straight away, saying the money would be on its way within the next couple of days. Two days later, she checked her bank account and was horrified to discover that instead of the $20 million promised, there was just a single deposit of £150,000. An email soon followed, apologising and saying that after expenses, there wasn’t quite as much as the Prince had hoped.
“I feel cheated, devastated and used,” said Britney who is now undergoing counselling following her experience, “I’d got plans for a big detached in Wickersley and that won’t even get me a decent semi in Bramley. The Prince has sent me his bank details to send his half. Well he can swivel for it.”
We tried to contact the Prince yesterday, but he was unavailable for comment.
