ADELAIDE MAN IN MALI INTERNET DATING SCAMArticle from: Sunday Mail (SA) ...KATE KYRIACOU, RENATO CASTELLO,
LINCOLN WRIGHT....August 13, 2007 08:05pm
A LOVESTRUCK local farmer has been rescued in a dramatic police operation, after he was lured to Africa on an internet promise of marriage and $100,000 in gold.
Des Gregor, 56, was due to arrive back in Adelaide today after the fortnight-long kidnapping ordeal, during which he was held in a tiny cell by a gang and beaten with machetes and guns.
The gang, who kidnapped Mr Gregor after he arrived at the west African nation of Mali's main airport in the capital Bamako on July 27, told him his limbs would be hacked off one by one unless his friends and family came up with a $100,000 ransom.
Suspicious family and friends contacted police in Australia on July 29 after receiving a string of calls and emails from Mr Gregor saying he was in trouble and desperate for cash.
His kidnapping sparked an extraordinary rescue operation involving state and federal police, who posed as relatives to scam the scammers into releasing him.
A team of more than 70 Australian police worked on the case, negotiating with the kidnappers until Mr Gregor's handover at the Canadian Embassy in Bamako on Thursday morning.
Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Tim Morris said yesterday that there were many times when police were convinced Mr Gregor would be killed.
"He was met by men at the airport and they've driven him off, telling him he was on the way to meet this girl," he said.
"Instead, they threw him in this tiny room – 2m 2.5m – with bars on the windows, stripped him, assaulted him with a machete and a gun, and threatened to cut off his limbs if he didn't arrange for $100,000 to be sent by his friends and relatives. He stayed in this room for 12 days, during which time they fed him a little bit of rice and the occasional hamburger.
"They let him out to go to the toilet, but the room was guarded at all times."
According to friends and family, it was not Mr Gregor's first attempt at an international romantic jaunt.
Three years ago, he flew to Russia after meeting a woman on the internet. He returned home early, and alone, but would not discuss it.
This time, he flew to Mali after falling in love with the "young woman" who claimed her family would hand over $100,000 in gold once they were united.
Police are still trying to establish how the shy wheat and sheep farmer from Hoyleton, a town between Balaklava and Clare, first came into contact with "Natacha".
They know that after several months of email communication, Mr Gregor packed his bags and headed to Mali to fetch his bride-to-be.
He was picked up at Bamako airport by three men holding a sign with his name on July 27.
Once he was in their car, instead of offering love and gold, they produced machetes and threatened to hack off his arms and legs unless they received a $100,000 ransom. Mr Morris said it was not long before friends and family began to receive emails and phone calls from Mr Gregor, who said he was having problems with his credit cards and in "big trouble". Immediately suspicious, they contacted police.
"Des is a single bloke who never married, a gullible, quiet sort of bloke," a friend said. "He was always shy and lonely."
The friend said Mr Gregor called him six to eight times, begging for money.
Within hours of hearing from the family on July 29, a team of more than 50 AFP agents and 20 South Australian officers were working 24 hours a day to intercept emails and phone calls.
The SA team was comprised mostly of police negotiators who worked from an "undisclosed location" in Adelaide.
"They were very quickly able to work out he was absolutely in a lot of trouble," Mr Morris said.
"His captors were posing as their victim online, asking for money.
"Over the ensuing days, we negotiated the amount down to $25,000 and set up a scenario where some of that money, one or two thousand dollars, would be made available if the victim could go into the Canadian embassy in . . . Bamako."
The kidnappers fell for the ruse, agreeing to take Mr Gregor to the embassy. "They told him if he failed to come back out, Natacha, her little brother Peter and another fictitious character they called Reverend Mark would be killed," Mr Morris said. "None of these people actually existed."
A team of 30 police officers from Bamako provided constant surveillance, raiding various hotel rooms where they thought the kidnappers might be.
In addition to the joint force in Adelaide, an AFP liaison officer based in Johannesburg, South Africa, travelled to Mali to work on the case.
On Thursday morning, the kidnappers used two taxis to accompany their victim to the Canadian embassy. (Australia does not have a diplomatic mission in Mali).
Mr Morris said Mr Gregor remained convinced of the existence of his "girlfriend" when he walked in.
"He was still convinced these other people would be killed," he said. "But we weren't letting him back out that door, no way."
The kidnappers managed to escape, but have since contacted Mr Gregor again by email to ask of his whereabouts.
"Saving this guy was all that this was about," Mr Morris said.
"Hopefully we can still catch these people, but at the moment that's a work in progress."
Mr Morris said people should be extremely cautious when communicating with strangers online.
"He is a very, very lucky man," he said. "You can only imagine what it would have been like on the other side of the world, imprisoned in a room by a couple of guys with machetes, stripped of money.
"Your chances of getting out alive would be very, very slim.
"On the internet, things are often not what they seem. In this case, there was no girl and no gold.
"It's the old saying. If things are too good to be true, they usually are."
Mr Morris said the farmer was traumatised, but not suffering any serious injuries.
"He's in good health, all things considered, and certainly well enough to travel back to Australia. He has no serious injuries. He's keen to get home," he said.
Mr Gregor has since been moved to Johannesburg and is expected to arrive back in Adelaide today.
Anyone worried about possible internet scams can visit
www.scamwatch.gov.au or call 1300 302 502.
