It all began a year ago. My uncle, over 65 and married, met a young woman on TikTok, somewhere between 20 and 25. They started chatting, and he fell in love. Since then, he has sent her substantial amounts of money for various reasons. She claimed she wanted to come to Europe and asked for money for a visa, but she never obtained one.
Now, my uncle is divorcing his wife and plans to move to Lagos to marry this girl. He refuses to listen to anyone and insists it’s not a scam. Our family fears he could be robbed, harmed, or worse if he goes. We’re seeking advice on how to stop him safely.
For some context, A colleague once shared that an alcoholic, disabled chef he knew married a woman from a small African country. He spent years sending her money to immigrate. Everyone assumed it was a scam. Two years later, she arrived, and they are now happily married with a child. The man even stopped drinking.
Another story: My friend’s uncle got a mail-order bride from Eastern Europe. Twenty-five years later, they are genuinely happy together.
And another example: While travelling through Uganda, someone met an American man celebrating his honeymoon with a younger local woman he met online. He proposed at the airport, and they married a week later.
Meanwhile, another woman tried to convince an older British man to come to Uganda, despite his fears about safety, by showing him that nothing bad had happened to a visitor like her.
These stories show that online relationships can sometimes work out, but the risk of scams, especially involving large sums of money, is very real.
