Former Glenolden woman Kate Kleinert was the victim of a romance scam that started on Facebook, writes Emily Schmall for The New York Times.

Kate Kleinert accepted a Facebook friend request during COVID isolation in the summer of 2020 from a man who called himself Tony and described himself as a Norwegian doctor working in Iraq.

They communicated daily on encrypted messaging apps for a couple of months, then Tony began asking for money.

By December 2020, the 69-year-old had given Tony and two people claiming to be his children $39,000 in gift cards.

“The loss that hurts the most is losing his love and losing the family that I thought I was going to have,” she said.

Experts said this is a familiar pattern for scammers.

Kleinert went to local and state police but they couldn’t help her.

Even after she thought she was secure, the scammer returned.

A friend set up a GoFundMe page for Kleinert after a fire destroyed her home. After months of silence, Tony got back in touch.

 “‘I know you have money,’” she said he told her, “‘I saw your GoFundMe page.’”

“That sent a chill down my spine.”

Read more about Kate Kleinert’s experience with an online romance scam at The New York Times.

See a Good Morning America report about online dating scams.