Woman's 'perfect match' a con

She thought he was kind and sincere - and about to sign off a business deal that would secure their future.

But an Auckland woman has been left broke and devastated after the man she met through a dating agency scammed her out of $60,000.

The 53-year-old is taking legal action and warning other women to be careful.

"I have no money and I'm in debt. It's devastated my whole family.

"The loss of the money is huge, but the violation, the emotional thing, is just horrific."

Tracey (not her real name) met the scammer via a high-end introductions agency last June.

"He was everything I dreamed of and more. He was kind and considerate, and the one thing he told me he couldn't stand in a relationship was lies," she said.

He called himself an engineer who worked as a self-employed contractor.

He often talked about a patent he developed for equipment for hospital beds, which he was expecting to sell overseas.

In September last year, Tracey was shown a contract drawn up by his lawyers to sell the patent to a South African company for US$450,000.

But there was a catch - the lawyers needed to be paid $1800 before they would settle the deal.

"We'd got pretty close in that time, we were pretty committed to being together, so I offered to lend him the money," Tracey said.

That was the first loan.

Over the months the amounts got bigger and the stories more complicated: another lawyer needed paying, he needed to meet with buyers in Australia.

When Tracey raised concerns, he tried to call off the relationship.

Two weeks ago she called his bluff, and went to the law firm that he claimed was handling the deal - and discovered it was all a lie.

While they did know of the man's patent, they hadn't seen him since 1999 and were owed $1000.

"I knew at that point that I had been well and truly conned," she said.

When she confronted the man she hoped to marry and buy a house with, he said: "If you tell anyone you'll never see your money again."

The $60,000 was her life's savings, and money she was planning to use to help her daughter buy a house.

Tracey has accepted the money is gone, but is devastated that their 11-month relationship was a lie.

"It's not just the money. I thought he loved me. I thought I had my life partner, and now I've got nothing.

"I don't even have the trust that I can find someone again. He's taken everything.

"I'm having counselling, I'm not sleeping. It has totally destroyed my confidence in myself, and destroyed my trust in people," she said.

Police said they could not take any action because she willingly lent him the money, but a civil claim has been laid with the district court.

She is frustrated that the man, who lives in Auckland, has gone on with his life while she has lost everything.

He is even trying to meet more women - putting his profile on a dating site.

"Somehow this man must be stopped," she said. Her message to others meeting people online is to trust your intuition. If there's something that's not ringing true about someone, talk to people. "

Tracey said she didn't blame the company that introduced them.