A couple are separating after 16 years after the husband had an “online affair” with a scammer pretending to be a model — before his wife befriended them to prove it was all a con.
Sarah Dalgleish, 61, thought she was happily married to her husband, Clive, 67, until spotting unusual payments on their shared credit card bill.
Her world came crashing down when retired Clive admitted he had been sending money to a woman in America he believed he was in an online relationship with.
Horrified Sarah discovered her husband had been approached by the woman on Facebook — claiming to be a fellow fan of his favourite football team, Wigan Athletic.
The account was actually impersonating a real London-based glamour model called Sophie Dalzell.
They spoke and flirted daily on a messaging app with Clive under the impression ‘Sophie’ was genuine, and she shared that her grandmother was unwell and needed costly medical treatments.
Clive had sent ‘Sophie’ approximately $2,700 in gift cards since October to help cover the costs.
‘Sophie’ had even sent him a doctored photo of her passport, and an address in Washington DC, where she claimed to live — and Sarah later discovered Clive had even looked up flights.
Clive was shocked to realise he had fallen for the scam after watching a segment about one on a TV show which bore stark resemblances to his relationship with ‘Sophie’.
But because he had become emotionally invested in his relationship with ‘Sophie,’ Sarah saw it as infidelity, and they are now separated.
Sarah, an administrator, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, said: “I saw the minimum payment in our shared bank account had changed, and when I asked, Clive was very sheepish.
“When he explained, I was firing so many questions at him — had he met them? Had they had sex?
“He explained he had fallen in love with someone else — but it didn’t seem rational, there were so many red flags.
“He put me on such a pedestal the way he loved me before this. So now I’ve had further to fall.
“And 16 years of marriage is gone over someone he never even met — and who never even existed.”
The story unravelled for Sarah after a change was made to her and Clive’s shared bank account’s minimum payment.
He revealed the online affair, and that he had been sending money to ‘Sophie’ in order to support her family’s medical bills.
While the real model is based in London, although originally from Manchester, the person behind the scam account speaking to Clive claimed to be from Washington DC, in the US.
Sarah said Clive revealed to her that ‘Sophie’ had started speaking to him, initially on Facebook before switching to another messaging app, in October.
They spoke and flirted weekly, and sometimes daily — and he developed romantic feelings for the woman.
She claimed to be between 30 and 32, and Clive had only seen photographs of her.
Clive would buy Apple gift cards from his local Curry’s shop and send ‘Sophie’ the card numbers so she could claim them.
By the time Sarah discovered their three-month ‘relationship’, he had sent ‘Sophie’ around $2,700.
Sarah said: “I’ll never forget that date that I found everything out.
“I found out he had been going to the travel agent’s and looking up Washington DC flights.
“I said to him ‘if I thought she was a real person, I’d pay for you to go there right now, and there will be nobody to meet you there.’
“”If there is, it won’t be her — and they’ll rob you for blind and leave you for dead.””
In a bid to convince Clive of the scam, Sarah even made a fake profile and contacted ‘Sophie’ herself and befriended the account.
Sarah said: “Within 10 minutes she had started asking me for money.
“I kept the chat going for four or five days before I told her she was destroying lives and to go to hell.”
Clive didn’t truly believe it was a scam until watching a TV show about ruses — and realizing his experience matched those on the show.
Sarah said: “The penny dropped for him then — he was crying because he realized his love interest was no more.”
Sarah said they contacted the bank, Halifax, but they were unable to claim back the money spent, as it was used to purchase gift cards which were redeemed.
She even went to their local Curry’s to confront the manager, who said he had suspected foul play and attempted to stop Clive.
Sarah said: “Luckily the credit card was in his name so the £2k debt is his, not joint.”
Unfortunately the happenings have led to the end of their 16-year relationship — because “the damage was done,” Sarah said.
Sharing his side of events, Clive, who is retired, said: “I didn’t seek her, Sophie found me on Facebook and it developed from there.
“I researched this model and I knew she was from Manchester but she told me she had moved to America because of her granny.
“She sold it to me that she was an ex pornstar, but said now she had settled down and worked in a restaurant.
“She sent me photos of her passport and her address — I did have doubts where I hunted for validity but she would give it.
“I think I knew something was wrong, but some things you don’t want to believe.
“I had never been unfaithful to Sarah and we had a good marriage as a whole but we grew apart, and I think that’s why I was vulnerable to this.
“I did say to Sophie that if I ever got caught, I’d have to tell my wife the truth about us because I couldn’t lie to Sarah.
“But I believed Sophie and I believed we would end up getting together further down the line.
“I’ve told Sarah many times how sorry I am, and I pray one day she will meet another man she can be truly happy with.
“Sarah is a damn fine woman and she was a great wife, and I wish the best for her.”
Clive has moved out of he and Sarah’s shared home just outside of Belfast, and back to his hometown of Portsmouth, Hampshire.
While the scam has caused a breakdown in their relationship, both parties wish to raise awareness of the damage that scammers can do — and how convincing they can be.
Sarah said: “If we can alert people to our story it just might prevent this from happening to someone else.”
Detective Superintendent Gary Miles, speaking on behalf of Action Fraud, said: “Action Fraud can confirm that it received [this report] on 20th February 2025 and this is currently being assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) at the City of London Police.”
A Halifax spokesperson said: “We have a great deal of sympathy with Mr Dalgleish as a victim of a romance scam.
“Romance scams are particularly cruel scams, toying with peoples’ emotions.
“Romance scammers often ask victims to purchase gift cards, so they can sell them on for profit.
“Never purchase these for someone you’ve never met in real life and, if you’re suspicious of someone you’re talking to online, speak to someone you trust in your day-to-day life to get an outside point of view.”
The real model Sophie Dalzell has been contacted for a comment.
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