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Man Loses $200,000 In Online Relationship Scam

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (WBBM/CBS) -- A Naperville man lost $200,000 recently, after falling for a scam involving the fictitious kidnapping of a woman.

As WBBM Newsradio 780's Mary Frances Bragiel reports, the man, who has not been named, is in "disbelief" after learning that a woman he believed he was involved with online does not even exist.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Mary Frances Bragiel reports

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The 48-year-old man said he started the online relationship 2 1/2 years ago. Since then, he had wired about $200,000 to several different bank accounts in Nigeria, Malaysia, England and the United States, police said.

Then the woman told him she had been kidnapped in London, and the man called Naperville police this past Wednesday to ask for help in rescuing her.

Police told the man that the "woman" in question was not real. The man's response was "disbelief," officers said.

An identification card the woman provided to him turned out to be a sample driver's license from Florida.

The Naperville Sun contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire

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