A woman was left 'shocked to the core' after a post on Facebook led her to discover the horrifying truth about the man she was dating.
Earlier this year, serial fraudster Raymond McDonald was sent back to prison for four and a half years after being charged with three counts of fraud by false representation.
This isn't the first time the 51-year-old has been found guilty of such offences, as he holds a record spanning across two decades, with his first prison sentence for fraud occurring in 2003.
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McDonald completed his most recent prison stint back in December last year, and appeared to waste no time in getting back into his fraudster ways - with three more women becoming his latest targets.
After meeting the women on dating sites, the fraudster began scamming them out of money - even going as far as pretending to marry one of the trio in Dubai, taking her there on holiday and staging an unlawful ceremony. He reportedly also promised others they would buy a house together.
McDonald claimed he was a probation officer able to access cheap goods through his work, and he allegedly manipulated his numerous ‘girlfriends’ into sending him money.
However, the women were eventually able to rumble McDonald with a post in a 'Are We Dating The Same Guy?' page on Facebook.
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Speaking about their ordeal in an interview with the BBC, the women explained how McDonald had appeared 'warm' and 'genuine' at first in order to get them to let their guard down - before proceeding to scam them.
One woman - who the BBC has referred to as Paula - even made a request to use Clare's Law, which is 'a police policy giving people the right to know if their current or ex-partner has any previous history of violence or abuse' to uncover more about McDonald's past.
Another woman agreed to let her friend make a post on the Facebook page.
The post asked if anyone in the group knew of McDonald or had any further information about him - and the results were shocking.
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Several commenters unmasked his criminal history, with one person even including a link to an article detailing a previous conviction of his. The post also reached McDonald's 'wife' who would go on to alert the police about his behaviour.
"My world just fell," she recalled, while the woman who had used Clare's Law would later tell the court during McDonald's trial: "I'm now emotional and cry non-stop, sometimes crying all night.
"He made me feel I was the most stupid person alive."
McDonald was ultimately unmasked as a serial fraudster who had been discharged dishonourably from the military in 2000. He turned to scamming not long after.
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McDonald's mother has since branded the 51-year-old a 'bl**dy big liar' and revealed that he had even duped his relatives into believing he was dying.
Meanwhile, Detective Constable Saad Sheban, who led the investigation, said: “McDonald is a serial scammer, who routinely preys on vulnerable women who are just trying to find a life companion. He clearly has learned nothing from his previous spell in prison and has slipped right back into his old ways.
“The victims have been incredibly brave throughout the investigation, and I want to thank them for speaking up – by reporting what happened to them they can help prevent it happening again.”
Topics: Facebook, Sex and Relationships, UK News, Crime
Brenna Cooper