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Elderly woman using dating website scammed out of $73K

HUMMELSTOWN, Pa. (WHTM) – A 78-year-old Dauphin County woman was scammed out of more than $73,000 while looking for companionship through an online dating site, police said.

State police in Harrisburg said the Hummelstown woman was contacted by email, phone, and texts by an unknown person through the senior dating website SeniorPeopleMeet.com. They said she wired numerous money orders totaling $73,735 to that person.

“It’s definitely a shame,” state police Trooper Rob Hicks said. “Unfortunately, with these types of scams generally, seniors tend to be the biggest population of victims. That’s because they generally tend to be the most trusting of people.”

Hicks said online transactions carry risks. He said very few people online should be trusted.

“The one thing you should try to avoid doing is wiring money when you are dealing with these transactions,” Hicks warned. “The reason for that is there is really no way to trace that money.”

Investigators said there could be other victims.