A married British woman has recounted how she was blackmailed by her Nigerian ‘lover’ over nude pictures she had sent him.
Gail Astin, 44, narrated how she had to come clean to her husband about her online lover after he threatened to send her nudes to him and expose their affair.
According to Mirror UK, the lonely and depressed mom fell for the conman posing as a 55-year-old hard-up widower from Texas. The pair exchanged thousands of WhatsApp messages, emails and phone calls over four months.
Gail had sent him naked selfies and was also scammed of £5,500 maxing out two of her credit cards. The ‘Instagram lover’ however continued to demand money from her. When she refused, he blackmailed her for £2,000.
A sobbing Gail felt suicidal – but took the right way out. She called police and then plucked up the courage to tell her husband of 16 years, Simon. And, surprisingly, he forgave her.
“He was angry and struggled to understand why I did it – because I felt lonely and needed someone to talk to. I feared for my marriage and told him if he wants me to go, I will leave,” Gail said.
“When I was told everything I was just speechless. I’d had no idea what was going on. But then I thought I hadn’t been paying Gail enough attention and felt completely inadequate,” Simon said.
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