A woman has been arrested in Auckland after allegedly swindling an unsuspecting Dunedin man out of half a million dollars through an "elaborate" romance scam spanning 18 years.
Police alleged the woman, a 44-year-old from Ellerslie, ran the scam for 18-years, beginning online in 2006.
Over time, she managed to obtain $525,537 from the "unsuspecting" man.
She was arrested after officers raided an Auckland property today with assistance from the Auckland City Financial Crime Unit.
She was charged with obtaining by deception and will appear in the Auckland District Court on February 17.
Acting Detective Senior Sergeant Ramsay said it was often difficult to arrest romance scammers as many of them are offshore.
"At the very heart of this are victims whose good nature is taken advantage of, causing emotional and financial stress.
“Our colleagues in Dunedin have been investigating this case, and we’re glad to have assisted in this result.”
Police issued a reminder to the public to "be extremely cautious when meeting new people online or through dating applications".
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