A person impersonating Ritchie Blackmore defrauded an elderly lady of £140,000

The Sun reports that 81-year-old Valerie Horwood was conned out of £140,000 after receiving a Facebook message from someone posing as the Deep Purple guitarist. Horwood was coerced into going to the store and purchasing an absurd quantity of Apple gift cards. She would receive her money back and extra, according to the fake Ritchie Blackmore. Similar to other cases like this one, the con artist wanted the woman to keep quiet about their encounter because he was well-known and didn’t want any bad publicity. Sadly, by the time Horwood approached her family for £2,000 to cover her expenses, the harm had already been done. When Debbie Horwood, Horwood’s daughter, checked into why her mother was asking for aid, she was astonished to learn that her mother’s bank account had been completely depleted.

[Valerie Horwood] was pulled into a false sense of security thinking she had this really good friend who was a famous person. She really did not believe us when we told her that it was a scam. Her world just completely fell apart. She couldn’t comprehend what had happened. It is a hard thing to take on that you have just given all of your money away to a scammer. It is a very crafty scam. I have been through the worst emotional rollercoaster with it all.”

Over the course of three years, Valerie was approached by the bogus individual on Signal and later on WhatsApp, asking for more money. Things got so awful that the old lady, who was being taken for a trip, tried suicide. She already had terminal cancer. Although Valerie now resides with her daughter, she lacks the resources to take care of herself in her last days. Debbie has been able to retrieve £12,500 from one of the places where her mother purchased the gift cards ever since the money was lost, and she hopes to eventually be able to retrieve more.

We are fighting for justice for my mum and to recoup her money so that she can decide what she wants to do with it in her time left. My mum may need to go to a nursing home soon, and that’s what she could be using her money for. Not for some scammers to go and buy a Rolex watch or a smart car.

That is simply an awful action to take on a terminal ill person. We wish all the best to Ms Horwood!