An Otago woman who was conned out of $300,000 by her ex-partner says the "horrific" situation helped her learn to trust her gut instincts more.
In 2018 after her divorce, mother of two Emma Ferris thought it was time to put herself out there again, so she joined Tinder. She swiped right on businessman Andrew Thomson and began a relationship.
He suggested she invest $300,000 with him for a property deal, which she did, but then the truth hit. Ferris found out Thomson wasn't his real name and he was a convicted fraudster.
Facing financial disaster, Ferris did the only thing she could do - she conned the conman right back.
"I played the con. I gave him back his own game and it seemed to work. I got him back in the country and some handcuffs were waiting for him at landing," she tells The Project.
Thomson, the conman was sentenced to 28 months in jail for the theft of $300,000 from Ferris and fraud against a Queenstown restaurant and an alcohol company.
Although Ferris says she saw red flags in Thomson, it was one of her friends that dug deep and found out he had legally changed his name so he had a different identity.
"There was a moment where I was like, 'oh crap, this is not good'. I was like I really wished it wasn't true. But I had to go with it and I had to believe it," she says.
Although Ferris is still tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket and says it felt awful to have her trust abused, she has become a stronger person.
"One of the things I've gained from this is that I lost a lot of trust in that moment. What I began to trust was me, and that's a big cheesy piece but I now trust my gut and what I'm doing."
Her advice for others who think their friends and family may be embroiled in a con is to approach the topic delicately.
"It's quite hard to prove it to someone that you think there's something going on. So it's maybe having subtle conversations with them or checking with other people around you and getting evidence to help make them understand that their behaviour is not okay."
Watch her interview on The Project above.
