One woman was scammed out of €250,000 in a romance fraud involving the Black Axe gang.

The woman paid the money to someone who she believed was an Irish man working on an oil rig.

She met this man, who presented himself as 'Neil Turner', on an online dating app.

Conor Lally, Irish Times Security and Crime Editor told Moncrieff what happened next.

"This guy Turner basically told the woman that he was working on oil rigs off the coast," he said.

"He then said that he had commercial interests, that they had run into problems; he said he was due a very big inheritance, but he needed cash now to help him with the business".

'Stranded due to COVID'

Conor said the woman sent several payments over a period of about six months.

"She basically sent them €250,000, including €50,000 that she borrowed off a friend of hers," he said.

"One particularly sad aspect to that case was these people posing as Turner online actually came up with this story that he was stranded on an oil rig due to COVID, and he was unable to travel to Dubai to collect cash there that he was owed.

"This woman agreed to go to Dubai on behalf of Turner."

Conor said when she got there, a group of men told her they could release Turner's funds for a payment €650,000.

"She didn't fall for that, she refused to hand over the money because she didn't have that kind of money," he explained.

"When she eventually came home to Ireland from Dubai, she continued to have contact with Turner through the app - and she continued to believe everything that he told her.

"It was only after a prolonged period after that that she became very weary of them, and she approached the Guards."

An Garda Síochána hold an event detailing enforcement activity under Operation Jackal. Picture by: Facebook/An Garda Síochána

It was revealed the person she knew as 'Neil Turner' was actually three members of the Black Axe gang operating in Ireland.

"They had basically cleaned her out to the tune of €250,000 over a period of about six months," Conor added.

The West-African organised crime group has stolen or laundered €64 million through its Irish operation in recent years.

Several arrests were made here as part of an international operation last month, with nine premises searched in Dublin and Clare.

Gardaí have said the group is "rapidly becoming a major security threat worldwide".

Main image: A tired woman in front of a laptop. Picture by: Anna Berkut / Alamy Stock Photo