British Widow Dies in Ghana Crash After Losing Life Savings in £1m Romance Fraud Scam

A 69-year-old British widow, Janet Fordham, has died in a road accident in Ghana after travelling there to meet and marry a man she believed could help her recover money lost in a series of devastating romance scams totalling up to £1 million.

An inquest at Devon Coroner’s Court heard that Mrs Fordham, a retired housekeeper, had been targeted repeatedly by online fraudsters over a five-year period, losing her home, savings, and ultimately becoming heavily indebted.

She first began using online dating platforms in 2017, where she met a man posing as a British Army sergeant major deployed in Syria.

He allegedly convinced her he needed help transporting gold bars to the UK. Believing she was in a genuine relationship, she transferred large sums of money, with her family estimating losses of around £150,000 from that scam alone.

Despite warnings from relatives, including her daughter-in-law Melanie Fordham, she continued to send money through various channels such as bank transfers, wire services, and Bitcoin. Financial institutions eventually flagged and blocked her transactions after identifying fraudulent activity.

Her situation worsened when she was later targeted by additional scammers, including someone posing as a diplomat, further draining her resources. In total, she reportedly lost her home, savings, pension withdrawals, and borrowed money from relatives, accumulating losses of about £1 million.

Later, a man identifying himself as “Kofi” contacted her, claiming he had discovered evidence of her previous scams and could help recover her lost funds. Trusting him, Mrs Fordham travelled to Ghana in October 2022, despite repeated attempts by her family and authorities to stop her.

While in Ghana, she was travelling with Kofi from Accra towards the Oti region when their vehicle veered off the road and crashed. Mrs Fordham sustained fatal head injuries.

Investigators confirmed there was no third-party involvement in the crash. Kofi later pleaded guilty to driving offences and received a suspended sentence and fine.

The coroner concluded that Mrs Fordham died as a result of head injuries sustained in a road traffic collision.

Family members told the inquest they believe she was psychologically trapped by the scams, with her daughter-in-law stating that despite being warned and legally deemed to have mental capacity, she was “in too deep” and determined to believe she could recover her losses.