A 69-year-old British woman, Janet Fordham, who was scammed out of up to £1m by romance fraudsters, died in a road traffic collision while travelling to Ghana to try and recover some of her lost fortune.
Fordham had been cheated out of her life savings and home over five years by fraudsters based in the UK, Germany, US, and Ghana, an inquest heard. She met a man online who claimed to be a British army sergeant major working in Syria, and later another claiming to be a diplomat.
Despite efforts from family members and police to stop her sending money to scammers, Fordham was deemed of sound mind and continued to transfer funds, eventually handing over an estimated £800,000-£1m. She sold her home and land and was living in a caravan before travelling to Ghana.
Fordham died on Valentine's Day 2023 after the car she was in swerved and flipped onto its roof while driving to meet a family member to discuss marriage plans. The driver, who had been admitted to a driving offence, was not suspected of being involved in the crash.
Senior coroner Philip Spinney concluded that Fordham died as a consequence of head injuries sustained in the collision.
The inquest heard that Fordham's family and police had tried to stop her sending money to scammers but she was deemed to have capacity and there was nothing they could do.
Devon and Cornwall police concluded that no third party was involved in the crash, and the driver admitted a driving offence. The investigation into the collision found some inconsistencies and gaps in the evidence.