A terminally ill grandmother who attended school with Ritchie Blackmore has been conned out £140,000 by a scammer pretending to be former Deep Purple guitarist.
According to a report in The Sun, 81-year-old Valerie Horwood, who is suffering from pancreatic, liver and spleen cancer, was duped into handing over the money in the form of Apple gift cards over a three year period, and was so traumatised by the experience that she attempted to take her own life.
The scam was discovered when Horwood, who had been sworn to secrecy by the scammer, asked to borrow £2000 from her family in order to pay bills. Horwood's concerned daughter accessed her mother's bank account and discovered that her life savings had disappeared.
"She was pulled into a false sense of security thinking she had this really good friend who was a famous person," says her daughter, Debbie. "She really did not believe us when we told her that it was a scam. Her world just completely fell apart. She couldn't comprehend what had happened. It is a hard thing to take on that you have just given all of your money away to a scammer."
Horwood, who lives in Fleet, Hampshire, was contacted by the fake Ritchie Blackmore on Facebook before he connected with her directly via secure messaging apps Signal and WhatsApp. Over the next three years she bought £140,000 worth of Apple gift cards, which the scammer – who had promised to invest the money – was then able to redeem against goods from stores and supermarkets.
"We all went into shock," says Debbie. "My mum is not a stupid old lady. She is very streetwise and very switched on. She was probably quite lonely. She was enjoying the chats that they were having. It is quite heartbreaking that she was sucked in."
The case, which is being investigated by Hampshire police, has been filed pending further evidence. A JustGiving Page has been set up to raise money to replace Horwood's life savings.
