'He literally ruined me': Woman swindled out of life savings by boyfriend

Bernie D'arcy, who was duped out of €25,000 a decade ago. Picture: Jennifer Shortt

A woman who was swindled out of €25,000 by her former boyfriend a decade ago says she is still living "cheque to cheque" because of the romance fraud.

Co Wexford woman Bernie D’arcy has spoken out about her experience as Netflix film The Tinder Swindler continues to rank highly in the most-watched movies on the streaming service.

Ms D'arcy was duped into investing her life’s savings of €25,000 into a car and car parts exporting business her boyfriend claimed he was setting up between Ireland and his home country of Nigeria.

“It is still very raw, even though it happened years ago," she said.

I am living cheque to cheque and would never get up to that much money again.

“I had the money and he took it. It is maddening to think that it is gone.” 

Ms D'arcy had to move from an apartment she loved to a much smaller one because she couldn't afford the rent.

“I was terrified to spend my wages in case I couldn’t pay my rent, even though I was paying less rent. He literally ruined me — he ruined my life.” 

The couple began a relationship in 2011 after meeting at work.

He told her he needed money for a new business venture and asked for €25,000.

“I thought it sounded really good, like a good business, and that I would have money coming in from my investment," she said.

I thought it would make life so much easier. Naively, I didn’t even ask how much money I would expect from it. I was going in with my eyes closed.” 

The couple travelled to Nigeria in September 2011, following a shipment of cars and car parts, and stayed with relatives of her then partner.

While there, she asked her boyfriend about the shipment of cargo but was falsely told it had not arrived. 

Her partner convinced her he would have to remain in Nigeria to deal with outstanding business issues while she returned home.

He promised to keep in touch but eventually blocked her, after telling her several times of illnesses that prevented him from returning to Ireland.

She later found out her boyfriend was married, had a family in Nigeria, and had another girlfriend in Ireland, who had also been swindled out of money. 

Before travelling to Nigeria, he had been working in his spare time with a friend in a car dismantling business. This friend had also been defrauded.

Ms D'arcy did not report the incident to gardaí, saying she felt she would not have been taken seriously because she had willingly given him her money.

Last year, the number of romance frauds reported to gardaí rose by 86%.