Man charged with fraud in online dating scam

A man in the UK has been charged with posing as a lawyer and a police officer after an inquiry into on-line dating fraud.

Matthew Bart Samuels, 49, faces a total of nine offences after an investigation led by West Mercia Police.

A spokesman for the force said Samuels had been charged with five counts of fraud by false representation, one count of wilfully pretending to be a barrister, two counts of theft, and one count of impersonating a police constable.

Samuels, of Loxley Green, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, will appear before magistrates in Worcester later today.