https://www.siliconvalley.com/2022/05/02/californias-seniors-lost-an-estimated-10-9-billion-to-fraud-in-2020/

The relationship started on an online dating site. Katsumi Iwasaki was enthralled by a person who claimed to be a US soldier stationed in Damascus, Syria. They quickly fell to emailing “sweet things,” Iwasaki said.

The 81-year-old San Francisco man had been living alone after his partner of 22 years died of lung cancer, and the budding relationship “made me feel like I had a bright future.” After a few months of corresponding in late 2016, the person, who said his name was “James Lopez,” mentioned the gold – $1 million worth. Lopez needed money to ship a cache from Syria to San Francisco for safekeeping, he said.