My boyfriend stole my money and I'm ashamed to tell my children

Dear AmoMama,

I am ashamed and humiliated by how stupid I've been and I don't want my children to know what I've done. I'm 62-years-old and have been a widow for 5 years now, and a year ago I received a friendship request online from a friend of one of my closest friends. I accepted. and this man and I started chatting.

As time went by we became friendlier, and soon talking to him was the best part of my day. I live in Boston, but my friend 'Mike' lived in Juneau, Alaska. He told me he was also a widower.

He told me he was going to retire, open a tiny bed and breakfast on the shore of Mendenhall Lake, and buy a small boat. He spoke of it as 'our' retirement.

Then one day he told me a property that would be perfect for our dream had been foreclosed by a local bank and he could get it for a pittance. The only problem was that his money was tied up in long-term investments. He was going to lose the opportunity.

He was so sad that I immediately proposed lending him the money, and at first, he said NO, but then he agreed as long as the property was placed in my name.

I transferred a very substantial sum to the bank that was selling the property and received documentation which appeared to confirm that I was now the owner of an establishment in Juneau.

Over the following weeks, 'Mike' spoke to me less and less often, telling me he was busy with the renovations on the property. He then asked me for more money for the 'renovations'. I sent him more money. this time to a contactor's bank account.

After that, 'Mike' never seemed to be online, he was constantly 'busy.' One day he vanished from my friend's list, and his phone was disconnected. My friend whose friend he was told me she had never met him, that he had befriended her online through yet another friend.

The property didn't exist, or the bank, or the contractor. 'Mike' is a conman and he stripped me of all I had.

I am now struggling to make ends meet, and I won't be able to pay the taxes on my house. I can't ask them for help, but I'm about to lose my daughters' inheritance and I don't know what to do.

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