[us] combination of romance and inheritance scam

A very close friend of a very close friend of mine (both of them in the US) was widowed last year. He started dating online and met ‘Roberta’ who first said she wanted to live together. And then came up with a story that her grandfather in Paris had died and left her a box full of gold bars. A box that needed to be transported to the USA (to his address), which needed some money to get it there. That was last September.

It’s ten months later, the box with gold is supposedly in Canada -Toronto first, Vancouver now- and my friend’s friend is out of 150,000 dollars. And almost out of friends and family willing to lend him money.

My friend has a hard time not to borrow him some for the ‘very last time’. It’s a typical story I’ve read here lots since joining this reddit earlier today.He still is in total denial of what’s happening, and I understand the fear, anxiety and avoidance that’s happening inside him. And the claim he lays on my friend for lending him some more. Even I feel the pull.

The combination of different scams -romance, gold, transport- struck me. BTW, he seems to have met this girl once. Would make it easier to prosecute would he go to the police or some federal agency. But he won’t. He still thinks he will get his gold bars and offered half of the profits which he estimates at at least a million to my friend for lending him a 1000 dollars. Right.