This is heartbreaking stuff.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland have warned people to remain vigilant after a woman in the north of Ireland was conned out of £300,000 in an online romance scam. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, was befriended by a man on Facebook three years ago and a relationship developed. After three months, the man asked the woman for money so that his children could be educated in the United Kingdom. She was thereafter asked for money in relation to investing in both Ghana and Dubai. Over the course of three years, the woman gave more than £300,000 to the man on the basis of his fraudulent claims. Chief Superintendent of the PSNI Simon Walls said: "Romance scammers don’t prey on a specific gender, sexuality, race or age. They target everyone; just don’t let it be you. Don’t let yourself become a statistic. "Protect yourself if you want to use the internet in search of love or companionship.  Start off with a reputable website. Look out for someone asking lots of questions, but not giving any detail about themselves. Don’t ever hand over any money. Never let anyone you don’t know or trust transfer money into your bank account." Enquiries are now ongoing into the nature and perpetrator of the scam.