Hiding behind the picture of a handsome American soldier stolen from a real Instagram account, Chris Maxwell would try to make women fall in love with him online.
The 25-year-old Nigerian says he conned up to 30 victims out of more than $70,000 (£56,000) over five years, enjoying “lavish” spending on nights out in clubs and designer clothes.
“When I was doing this, I used to think about people – I used to feel guilty,” he tells Sky News.
“I used to feel bad but as time goes on and I started making good money – big money – I stopped feeling bad.”
Reports of romance fraud are on the rise in the UK, with victims conned out of more than £88m last year, according to latest figures.
Chris says he became a scammer while he was a student aged 17 and would approach strangers in the US, UK, Canada and Germany on social media.
Image: Chris says he became a romance scammer aged 17. Pic: Chris Maxwell
“I start on common ground – I make sure they like me,” he says.
“I make sure they trust me so much and tell me anything – they can trust me, they can confide in me.
“After that, I start going in a relationship with them and that’s how I start my scam.”
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One American woman – who he contacted online and spoke to for a year – handed over more than $30,000 (£24,000), says Chris.
“After she gave me the money, she became sick,” he says.
“She became depressed and wanted to see who I actually am.
“I did something really, really bad. I started felling guilty because she’s sick.
“I showed her my face, she cried but she forgave me.”
Romance scammer guide leaked
Chris says he was arrested in Nigeria but never charged over his romance scams – and knows of others who have “served time”.
None of the money was returned to his victims but he insists he’s now “living a good life” after the American woman introduced him to Social Catfish, a company which helps identify fraudsters by verifying online identities through reverse search technology. Chris now works as a consultant for the firm.
Since turning his back on a life of crime, he says he has leaked a 40-page step-by-step guide entitled How to Make a White Woman Fall in Love With You from Online Chat that is used by scammers.
Image: The manual includes tips on carrying out romance scams, says Chris. Pic: Social Catfish
The handbook – which advises scammers to target women over the age of 40 – details how to carry out research from their social media profiles, suggesting finding out about “her hobbies, her pets, job, passion, if she has kids, age, where she lives, what she loves etc”.
Would-be fraudsters are told to make an approach using the information gathered or pick from “a list of 100 pickup lines that work every time”, including: “Life without you would be like a broken pencil… pointless”.
There are tips for carrying out a conversation, such as using a grammar app to avoid mistakes, a series of questions to ask and even “100 of the best jokes that will get her cracking her ribs” as “getting a woman to laugh is one of the fastest ways to make her like you”.
The guide recommends compliments, and again there is a list of suggestions, and tells scammers to wait at least a week before asking for money, which should not be done “directly”.
“When she asks about your day you can tell her it was bad,” the guide says.
“Then tell her you are broke, you are behind your mortgage and they will kick you out next week and you have exhausted every means to get money. By herself, she will offer to give you money.”
How to avoid falling victim to a romance scam?
According to Detective Constable Rebecca Mason, from Surrey Police, the “ABC of online dating” is “assume nothing; believe no-one and confirm everything”. Her advice includes:
• Never send money to someone you haven’t met as the likelihood is, it’s a scam
• If someone seems too good to be true they often are. Trust your gut
• If you have arranged a face-to-face meeting with the person and they keep cancelling, they probably aren’t who they say they are
• Be careful with what personal information you share such as answers to your security questions. Fraudsters will often ask for your home address to send gifts or flowers
• Be wary – you could be speaking to anyone on the end of the phone
Romance scam reports increased by more than a fifth (22%) last year compared with 2022, according to data from Lloyds Bank, which said the average amount lost by a victim was nearly £7,000.
Victims aged 65 to 74 tended to lose more money on average, with the figure at more than £13,000, Lloyds said.
Detective Constable Rebecca Mason, from Surrey Police, says people who write they are “widowed, divorced or lonely” in online profiles can be seen as a target but “anyone can be a victim of romance scams” – and often gay males are disproportionately targeted.
Victims are more likely to be male, while the highest number of people scammed in the UK last year were aged in their 20s, according to figures released by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.
There were more than 8,600 reports of romance scams in the UK last year – including 11 victims who were under the age of 10 and 12 victims aged 90 or over, the data shows.
Romance scammers using AI
DC Mason says fraudsters look to exploit the surge in the use of dating apps in the run-up to Valentine’s Day.
She warns that AI technology is enabling fraudsters to create a whole new identity and image.
“They can video call using this AI technology which can make them seem real,” she tells Sky News.
Image: Pic: iStock
“People are now becoming more confident to speak up and report it to Action Fraud or the police. However, it is still a very under-reported crime.
“The change has come with online dating being a lot more accepted than it perhaps once was a few years ago.”
Wayne Stevens, national fraud lead at the charity Victim Support, says romance fraud is “very common” and people can be more vulnerable to the “devastating crime” as they search for friendship or romance online around Valentine’s Day.
“There’s a common misconception that romance fraud – and fraud in general – only affects older people,” he adds.
“In reality, fraudsters are highly skilled opportunists who will exploit people when they are at their lowest and craving companionship, making it easy for anyone to become a victim.”
The Israeli Air Force is regarded as one of the country’s most elite units.
So, when hundreds of current and former pilots call for an end to the war in Gaza to get the hostages out, Israelis take notice.
This month, 1,200 pilots caused a storm by signing an open letter arguing the war served mainly “political and personal interests and not security ones”.
But Guy Paron, a former pilot and one of those behind the letter, said the Israeli government had failed to move to phase two of the ceasefire deal with Hamas, brokered under US President Donald Trump.
That deal called for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of all the remaining hostages. Mr Netanyahu continues to argue that the war must continue to put pressure on Hamas.
Mr Paron said the (Israeli) government “gave up or violated a signed agreement with Hamas” and “threw it to the trash”.
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“You have to finish the deal, release the hostages, even if it means stopping that war,” he argued.
It’s not the first time Israeli pilots have taken up a cause. Many of them also campaigned against Mr Netanyahu’s 2023 judicial reforms.
“In this country, 1,000 Israeli Air Force pilots carry a lot of weight,” Mr Paron added.
“The Air Force historically has been the major force and game-changer in all of Israel’s wars, including this current one. The strength of the Air Force is the public’s guarantee of security.”
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1:05
UN runs out of food aid in Gaza
Anti-government campaign spreads
Now, the open letter campaign has spread to other parts of the military.
More than 15,000 people have signed, including paratroopers, armoured corps, navy, special units, cyber and medics. The list goes on.
Dr Ofer Havakuk has served 200 days during this war as a combat doctor, mostly in Gaza, and believes the government is continuing the war to stay in power.
He has also signed an open letter supporting the pilots and accused the prime minister of putting politics first.
Image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the authors of the original letter as ‘bad apples’. Pic: AP
He said Mr Netanyahu “wants to keep his coalition working and to keep the coalition together. For him, this is the main purpose of the war”.
A ceasefire could lead to the collapse of the prime minister’s fragile far-right coalition, which is opposed to ending the war.
Threat of dismissal
The Israeli military has threatened to dismiss those who have signed protest letters.
We met a former pilot who is still an active reservist. He didn’t want to be identified and is worried he could lose his job.
“This is a price that I’m willing to pay, although it is very big for me because I’m volunteering and, as a volunteer, I want to stay on duty for as long as I can,” he told us.
The controversy over the war and the hostages is gaining momentum inside Israel’s military.
It is also exposing deep divisions in society at a time when there is no clear sign about how the government plans to end the war in Gaza, or when.
The renewed war in Gaza over the last year and a half followed deadly Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 250 taken hostage.
More than 51,000 people have been killed in Gaza during the Israeli military’s response, many of them civilians, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The smell of explosives is still in the air when we arrive.
Hours before, a displacement camp in Atbara housing families who fled the war in Sudan’s capital Khartoum was hit by two drone strikes in a four-pronged attack.
The first bomb on 25 April burned donated tents and killed the children in them.
The second hit a school serving as a shelter for the spillover of homeless families.
Chunks of cement and plaster had been blasted off the walls of the classrooms where they slept when the second explosive was dropped.
Blood marked the entrance of the temporary home closest to the crater.
Inside, shattered glass and broken window frames speak to the force of the explosion. We were told by their neighbours that four people in the family were instantly killed.
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“People were torn apart. This is inhumane,” says their neighbour Mahialdeen, whose brother and sister were injured. “We are praying that God lifts this catastrophe. We left Khartoum because of the fighting and found it here.”
Wiping a tear, he says: “It is chasing us.”
The sanctuary city held by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) about 200 miles northeast of Khartoum has been hit by six drone attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since the start of the year.
These latest strikes are the most deadly.
The drones – known for targeting civilian infrastructure – hit the displacement camp twice, the nearby power station supplying the city with electricity and an empty field with four bombs in the dark, early hours of the morning. First responders have told Sky News that 12 people were killed, including at least two children.
RSF increasingly using drones to carry out attacks
Data from the conflict-monitoring organisation ACLED shows the RSF has carried out increasing numbers of drone attacks across the country.
The most targeted states have been Khartoum and North Darfur, where fighting on the ground has been fierce, as well as Atbara’s River Nile State.
The data suggests that the increase in strikes has been driven by a change in tactics following the SAF’s recapture of Khartoum in late March, with the number of strikes carried out by the RSF spiking shortly after their withdrawal from the capital.
Satellite imagery shows the RSF’s airpower has allowed it to continue to attack targets in and around Khartoum.
Nearby Wadi Seidna Airbase was targeted after the attack on Atbara, with damage visible across a large area south of its airfield.
We were given access to the remains of latest suicide drones launched at Khartoum and could not find discernible signs of commercial origin.
Drone experts told Sky News that they are self-built devices made from generic parts with no identifiable manufacturers for the components.
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1:38
Two years of war in Sudan
Drones sighted in South Darfur are consistent with Chinese models
High-resolution satellite images confirm the presence of drones at the RSF-held Nyala Airport.
While the total number of drones kept at this location is unknown, imagery from Planet Labs shows six on 24 April.
This is the highest number of drones observed at the airport, suggesting an increase in the RSF’s available airpower.
The location and number of drones visible in satellite imagery at Nyala Airport has varied over time, suggesting they are in active use.
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2:51
Yousra Elbagir visits wartorn home in Sudan
While it is not possible to determine the exact model of drones sighted at Nyala Airport, a report published by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Lab has previously found them to be consistent with the Chinese-produced FH-95.
Analysis carried out by Sky News confirms these findings, with the measurements and visible features matching those of the CH-95 and FH-95. Both designs are produced in China.
The United Arab Emirates is widely accused of supplying Chinese drones to the RSF through South Sudan and Uganda, as well as weapons through Chad. The UAE vehemently denies these claims.
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0:45
Sudanese military in presidential palace
Evidence of new airfields
Satellite imagery viewed by Sky News suggests the RSF has worked to increase its air capabilities outside of South Darfur.
In late 2024, five new airstrips appeared in West Kordofan between the contested cities of North Darfur capital Al Fashir and Khartoum.
While the purpose of these airstrips is unknown, it is clear they carry some level of military significance, having been targeted by air in April.
In high-resolution images, no aircraft can be seen. Damage is visible next to a structure that appears to be an aircraft hangar.
The rapid escalation in drone strikes is being brutally suffered on the ground.
In Atbara’s Police Hospital, we find a ward full of the injured survivors.
One of them, a three-year-old girl called Manasiq, is staring up at the ceiling in wide-eyed shock with her head wrapped in a bandage and her feet covered in dried blood.
Her aunt tells us the explosion flung her small body across the classroom shelter but she miraculously survived.
She has shrapnel in her head and clings onto her aunt as her mother is treated for her own injuries in a ward on the first floor.
In a dark room deeper in the ward, a mother sits on the edge of a hospital bed holding her young injured daughter. Her son, only slightly older, is on a smaller adjustable bed further away.
Fadwa looks forlorn and helpless. Her children were spending the night with relatives in the temporary tents when the first strike hit and killed her eight-year-old son.
His surviving sister and brother have been asking after him, but Fadwa can’t bring herself to break the news.
“What can I say? This is our fate. We fled the war in Khartoum but can’t escape the violence,” Fadwa says, staring off in the distance.
A ship carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza has been bombed by drones while it was in international waters.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the NGO responsible for the ship, has pointed the finger at Israel.
Video shows fire raging onboard the vessel, which put out an SOS distress call after it was attacked off the coast of Malta.
It comes as the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice continued this week.
Gaza remains under blockade, with Israel having now refused to allow international aid into the devastated enclave for almost two months despite global outcry.
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The hospital Ghena went to for treatment has been destroyed
Following the drone attack, the Maltese government confirmed that after several hours all crew were safe and the fire was under control.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said: “Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade (of Gaza) and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters.”
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It asserted that the drone attack “appears to have specifically targeted the ship’s generator” and had left the vessel at risk of sinking.
Describing the attack, it said: “Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull.
Image: A five-year-old boy lies on a bed at Nasser Hospital, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Pic: Reuters
“The last communication in the early morning of the 2nd of May, indicated the drones are still circling the ship.”
It released video footage shot in the dark that showed lights in the sky in front of the ship and the sound of explosions. The footage also showed the vessel on fire.
The Israeli foreign ministry has not commented on what happened.
Yesterday, UN aid coordinator Tom Fletcher called on Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza, which has been in force for almost two months.
“Yes, the hostages must be released, now. They should never have been taken from their families,” he said.
“But international law is unequivocal: As the occupying power, Israel must allow humanitarian support in.”
Aid should never be a “bargaining chip”, he added.
‘Children going to bed starving’
Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA said: “The siege on Gaza is the silent killer of children, of older people.
“Families – whole families, seven or eight people – are resorting to sharing one can of beans or peas. Imagine not having anything to feed your children. Children in Gaza are going to bed starving.”