Remember, money can’t buy you love. Especially, if that love costs you more than half a million dollars. That’s how much a San Jose woman lost when she fell victim to an online dating scam.

The 66-year-old woman sent more than $500,000 to a purported Nigerian scammer she met on ChristianMingle.com, SFGate reports.

The man, who posed as a British citizen stuck at sea on a Scottish oil rig, called, texted and sent flowers to the woman before asking her to loan him money to run a business.

After recently wiring $200,000 to a Turkish bank, the woman realized she had been conned. She immediately contacted Santa Clara County prosecutors, who then contacted the Turkish bank. When an associate of the Nigerian scammer showed up to withdraw the funds, he was arrested by Turkish National Police. The associate, who entered Turkey using a fake passport, is currently being prosecuted for fraud in Turkey.

Online dating scams aren’t new, in fact, we’ve reported on several unfortunate souls searching for love in the wrong place and losing out on thousands of dollars. In 2012, the FBI estimated more 5,600 people lost more than $50 million in online dating scams.

San Jose woman loses $500,000 in online dating scam [SFGate.com]

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