LA man robbed of $6,000 and cellphone by woman in online romance scam

Los Angeles man caught up in online romance scam is robbed of $6,000 and his cellphone by woman he traveled to Colombia to meet after chatting to her online for three months

  • Los Angeles resident Eduardo Villareal recently traveled to Santa Marta, Colombia, to meet a woman he met online three months ago for the first time
  • But at their first meeting, the woman and a friend robbed him of $6,000 
  • Villareal has filed an incident report with the local prosecutor’s office, but no arrests have been made

A Los Angeles man fell victim to an online romance scam after Colombian woman he met online and traveled to meet robbed him of $6,000 and his cellphone. 

Eduardo Villareal flew to the northern Caribbean coast city of Santa Marta before Christmas to meet the woman, who has not been identified, after chatting to her online for three months. 

But his search for love unraveled when she and another female mugged him for his cash and cellphone at their first meeting.

‘I wanted to have a serious relationship, but I have been robbed,’ Villareal, who is originally from Mexico, told El Informador newspaper.

Villareal said that he organized the trip around the Christmas holidays with woman.

Eduardo Villareal, of Los Angeles, fell victim to a $6,000 robbery during a recent trip to spend Christmas in Santa Marta, Colombia, with a woman who he had met online three months ago. Villareal revealed he had fallen in love with the woman, who eventually introduced him to another female who aided her in pulling off the robbery

A Los Angeles resident's Christmas trip to Santa Marta, Colombia, unraveled when he was robbed by a woman he gone there to meet for the first time in person after spending the last three months getting to know her online

A Los Angeles resident’s Christmas trip to Santa Marta, Colombia, unraveled when he was robbed by a woman he gone there to meet for the first time in person after spending the last three months getting to know her online

‘I met her through social media. We had been talking for months and we planned this trip to meet and start our romance, but she fooled me,’ he said.

‘There were two girls … they looked serious, decent but when I stepped foot in Santa Marta they took everything I had.’

He did not reveal any other details on how the robbery transpired. 

El Tiempo newspaper reported that Villareal has filed an incident report with the local prosecutor’s office, but no arrests have been made. 

Eduardo Villareal, a Mexican national who resides in Los Angeles, got caught up in a romance scam and was robbed by the woman he was planning to officially make his girlfriend during a trip to the Colombian Caribbean port city of Santa Marta, where they met for the first time recently after meeting online three months ago

Eduardo Villareal, a Mexican national who resides in Los Angeles, got caught up in a romance scam and was robbed by the woman he was planning to officially make his girlfriend during a trip to the Colombian Caribbean port city of Santa Marta, where they met for the first time recently after meeting online three months ago

Santa Marta is located in Colombia's Caribbean coast. The port city was the first Spanish settlement in the South American country

Santa Marta is located in Colombia’s Caribbean coast. The port city was the first Spanish settlement in the South American country

The stunned Californian said he had vacationed in other Colombian cities in the past, but had never traveled Santa Marta, the first Spanish settlement in the Andean nation.

‘This situation has me disappointed; I don’t know where to turn, or who to go to,’ he said. ‘This problem has not allowed me to enjoy or get to know the city well, which at first glance appears to be very poor.’

For anyone those looking to meet their future significant other on a dating site or online app, Villareal has one simple recommendation: ‘Before embarking on a journey to discover love on social media networks, take a good look at who you are talking to. That the same thing that happened to me does not happen to you because this messes up Christmas, the New Year and all the holidays.’

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