Crime & Safety
'Romance Scammer' Steals $31K From FL Widower
A MN man has been sentenced after being accused of posing as a U.K. woman to defraud a FL widower he met on Facebook out of $31,000.
BRADENTON, FL — A suspected "romance scammer" is defrauded a 79-year-old Florida widower out of $31,000 by pretending to be a woman from the United Kingdom.
Bradenton Police on Thursday said Benjamin Yakah, a resident in Minnesota, has been sentenced to jail after being convicted of grand theft.
His conviction was in connection with a June 2024 incident. Police said the widower's children contacted authorities after being concerned about their father's online romance with a woman named "Julia" who said she was from the United Kingdom.
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The two met in late 2023 on Facebook and spoke for eight months through Facebook Messenger, police said.
"Julia" told the widower she was relocating to the U.S. to be with him; but before she could move, "Julia" claimed she owed money to a Minnesota man and would repay him before relocating, police said.
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Wanting the relocation to be expedited, police said the widower sent cash, money and cashier's checks to a Minneapolis bank and home.
Both the bank and home address were tracked to Yakah, police said. Furthermore, police said the photos of "Julia" were actually of a West Virginia woman who did not know she was an identity theft victim.
Bradenton detectives traveled to Minnesota in November 2024 and arrested Yakah with the assistance of local authorities. Through a search, police said they determined there had been other victims in other states.
Yakah was extradited to Manatee County, and he pled no contest to grand theft (valued between $20,000 and $100,000) earlier this month, police said.
He was sentenced to one year in jail, four years of probation and $31,000, the amount detectives could prove the widower sent to Yakah.
"Romance scams rank among the top five tactics used against Americans, particularly senior citizens. In 2025, elder fraud cases investigated by BPD totaled more than $8 million in losses. The department offers printed resources for senior citizens, available at our headquarters, 100
10th St. W," police said in a news release.
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