Woman scammed by 'Russian astronaut' who claimed he needed money to get back to Earth

Online scammers are very much a modern plague, and now one woman has revealed how she was scammed by an alleged Russian astronaut.

Despite space travel costing millions - or most likely billions - this scammer managed to convince his victim that he needed her cash to make his way safely back to Earth.

The scam began back in June of this year, Vice reports, when the man contacted the woman, 65, on Instagram and struck up an online relationship with her.

Sending her a number of snaps of the International Space Station, he claimed that he was working there and used its distance and signal as an excuse for intermittent messaging.

Alamy / Andrey Armyagov

The pair went on to speak on LINE, a messaging app that's popular in Japan, where the scammer professed his love to the 65-year-old and then proposed, despite never meeting.

TV Asahi reported that some of the alleged astronaut's messages read: 'I want to start my life in Japan' and 'Saying this 1,000 times won't be enough, but I'll keep saying it. I love you.'

After winning his victim's affection, the scammer explained that there was a problem stopping them from being together: he was still in space.

He then asked the woman to cover the supposed cost of a rocket to Japan and alleged landing fees in the country to the tune of 4.4 million yen, which equates to around $30K (£27.14K).

Despite the story being incredibly far-fetched, the 65-year-old fell for the scam and paid the large sum of money out in four instalments.

However, the scammer demanded more money, and it was only at this point that the woman realised what was going on and contacted authorities.

Alamy / Konstantin Shaklein

According to Vice, increasing numbers of people in Japan are being targeted by romance scams like the one this woman fell victim to.

While there hasn't been an official investigation into this type of scam, romance scams fall under the general fraud umbrella.

The news outlet reports that the number of fraud investigations in Japan increased from 8,693 in 2012 to 14,498 in 2021 - with a peak of 18,212 investigations in 2012.

However, it's not just people in Japan who are falling victim to romance scams in large numbers and it is a problem the world over.

As reported by the United States Federal Trade Commission in February: "In the past five years, people have reported losing a staggering $1.3 (£1.18) billion to romance scams, more than any other FTC fraud category."

So, be warned the next time an astronaut tries to gain your heart, they're probably just trying to gain your money.