A Salford man who used fake dating profiles to fool women into giving him £100,000 to help fund a non-existent Nigerian orphanage has been jailed.
Adewale Adewole, of Carrfield Avenue, Little Hulton asked for money through match.com and backed up fake personas on that site using photos on Facebook.
He promised the women would be repaid. The 31-year-old admitted four counts of fraud by false representation and was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to four years and six months in prison.
Greater Manchester Police said Adewole had invented a fake charity supporting an orphanage and created a website for it, which listed the names of two fake directors. He then used one of the names, along with a photo of an unconnected, innocent man, to create profiles on the dating website.
Using those profiles, police said he romanced four women, gained their trust and asked them for money to help the sick orphans, which he told them he would repay. When one woman told him she had no money, he asked her to send an iPad and iPhone instead.
His fraud was uncovered when one woman became suspicious and contacted the World Health Organization, who told her the orphanage did not exist. Det Con Shaun Nicholls said Adewole had “preyed on the vulnerability and kind-heartedness of the victims. “Through deceit and dishonesty, the victims were conned into believing they had entered into a loving relationship and had a future with Adewole. “But instead they were taken advantage of and their trust was shattered.”
