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This Sydney Con Artist Catfished $2.3 Million From Guys She Dated Online

She left one man with only $20 to his name.

Image via Twitter

A Sydney woman, Sanaa Derbas, has plead guilty to defrauding almost $3 million dollars from six different men she met via internet dating services. The 41-year-old reportedly left one man with only $20 in his bank account.

Some news outlets have referred to Derbas as a "ruthless gold digger". Let's call her what she really is: a highly skilled con artist with some serious attitude. Derbas was unrepentant in court, casually chewing gum as the magistrate heard evidence of her multiple crimes. She also reportedly pushed a journalist out of a lift when they tried to photograph her before Monday's trial.

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Between 2008 and 2014, Derbas perfected a simple and effective catfishing technique: find lonely men online, form a fictional relationship with them, arrange to meet in person, and then cancel at the last minute. She typically used niche web dating services like Lavalife, Meeting Point, and Clique Introductions to find her victims.

Posing as different women—her aliases included "Sarina Lopez" and "Marrisa"— Derbas told various lies to obtain fast cash. One effective ruse involved inviting men to meet her at hotels, asking them to transfer money into her account so she could book the room, not showing up, and then ceasing contact altogether.

The district court also heard that Derbas told men she needed urgent funds to pay for her (very much alive) mother's funeral. In fact, she claimed her mother died six separate times. She also told one victim her son had swine flu and cited this as a reason she couldn't repay a loan.

Many victims transferred Derbas more money than they could afford. She managed to take more than $1.7 million from one man, and $186,903 from another.

Derbas came unstuck when victims started reporting her activities to police in 2014. Police recovered no less than 15 mobile phones from her Western Sydney home, as well as a personal diaries containing the names and contact details of hundreds of men.

Derbas has been charged with 11 counts of dishonestly obtaining money by deception. She's been released on bail and will be sentenced in February.

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