A New Jersey man will spend over a decade behind bars after scamming people online who were looking for love.
Rubbin Sarpong was handed down his sentence on Tuesday. Authorities say that between January 2016 and September 2019, Sarpong and his conspirators scammed individuals from several different dating websites. The clique of fraudsters would then pretend that they are wealthy entrepreneurs and asks the unsuspecting love seekers for money, usually for the purported reason of paying to ship gold bars to the country, which is one of the oldest scam methods in the book.
Prosecutors said that the 38-year-old received $1.14 million in taxable income from the scheme but had not filed income tax and paid no income tax.
In addition to his prison stint, Sarpong must pay more than $3 million in restitution to 36 victims. He has also been ordered to pay more than $385,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.
Romance scams continue to rise in the United States, with many victims being elderly citizens. In 2020, the FTC recorded a total loss of $304 million due to romance scams. To avoid this, experts say people should remain vigilant of opportunities that appear “too good” and send money to people they have never met in person.
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