FRAUDSTERS ARE using the identity of a local businessman and former international model to extract money from unsuspecting women around the world, the Sunday Mail learned yesterday.
Nicosia-based businessman Marcus Platrides, 29, said he recently discovered that women living in Sweden, the US and Canada have been sending money to Istanbul to someone who claimed to be him, or at least, to have his face and body.
“One day in December I woke up, checked my Facebook and found a message from one of these women,” said Platrides, who has been married five years.
The woman from Canada informed him that someone had been using photos of him on a dating site to lure women into an “online” relationship and then trick them into sending him money.
“I didn’t really believe it at first. I thought someone was playing a trick on me. But he was using photos of me as a model, and even as a young boy, when I was at school and in the cub scouts,” he said.
Platrides said that he was used to women contacting him via his website, which has images of his time as a model. “I get a lot of fan mail, and I know there are women in love with me, but I was surprised to find out that these women were in love with somebody through false pretences.
“These women have no idea about me, they’re completely innocent. I told them I felt indirectly responsible and would do everything possible to help,” said Platrides.
After the Canadian woman contacted him, a Serbian woman living in Sweden also got in touch, telling him the same story.
Olivera Kikovic, 40, is a single mother of two who fell for the same trap as at least another seven women. Based on what some of the women have confessed to giving, at least $17,000 was sent to the person claiming to have Platrides’ face and body. Kikovic is determined to ensure no one else suffers the same experience.
“Last July I met this guy who called himself Donald Terkin on a dating site called Tagged.com. The first three months, he was polite and kind, there was no talk about money,” she said.
The two talked on MSN, hotmail and on the phone everyday for five months, up to five, six hours a day. The person who called himself ‘Terkin’ and looked exactly like Platrides told her he wanted to work in Sweden, but didn’t have a visa.
He claimed to live in Cyprus and study at a university in the government-controlled areas, saying his mother was Cypriot and father from Fiji.
“One day after three months, he sounded sad. I asked what’s wrong, and he said he needed €200 for an interview for a Swedish visa in Cyprus. I sent it to him. He didn’t ask me, I offered.”
Kikovic sent the money to Istanbul using money transfer services. “I sent it to someone with an African name. He said it was his agent,” she said.
Two weeks later, she sent another €300 so ‘Terkin’ could have some money on arrival in Sweden.
“That time I asked to speak to his mother and best friend, but she didn’t speak very good English. He told me his mum was sick and needed surgery,” said the Serbian single mother.
Kikovic was about to send another €300 when she got an email from a Canadian woman telling her that her ‘boyfriend’ had written “I love Olivera Kikovic” on his MSN status.
“When she asked him who I was, he told her I was his mother’s friend who had died,” she said.
Terkin told her to send the last installment to his agent’s assistant, giving a different name. He also dodged requests to chat using a webcam, saying he lived near a military zone and was not permitted.
“I was buying everything like a real pinhead. I’m not feeling stupid. I just think everyone’s like me, I trust people. I spoke to him everyday for five months. I thought I knew the asshole,” she added.
Kikovic tried contacting Terkin after that but he stopped using his phone and deleted her from MSN so she used Platrides’ images to make another account on the dating sites he used. She found seven other women from the US and Canada who had been duped into sending money to the same man.
“One gave $10,000, another who knew him for a year gave $6,000. I know of at least €17,000 that was sent, but some women refuse to say how much they gave,” she said.
“Some women are really depressed now. They saw a future with this asshole. One woman sent him her savings.”
Kikovic approached the Swedish police who said that they could do nothing since she had given the money voluntarily. Platrides also informed the police in Cyprus who told him that he was already a public figure of sorts and people using his photos was a minor crime compared to extracting money under false pretences. They suggested the female victims report the fraud in their countries and then get Cyprus involved via Interpol.
“I can laugh about it but some women have stopped work they are so depressed. It’s a good thing I’m a little crazy, but for others, it’s destroyed their lives,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Mail contacted the person who was believed to have collected the money from Kikovic in Istanbul. He denied any involvement in the fraud, or knowledge of Terkin, saying he is an African footballer who plays for an Istanbul team.
“I didn’t get any money from anybody. This is identity theft. I shall inform the police,” he said.
