Woman conned into buying gifts 'for Tom Jones'

An elderly woman was conned into buying £5,000 of gift cards for a fraudster who claimed they would help her meet singer Tom Jones.

The 81-year-old was first contacted on Facebook by the conman, who said he was linked to the Welsh star, Greater Manchester Police said.

Over time, the conversation was moved to the encrypted messaging app Telegram, where the woman was persuaded to purchase the vouchers, believing the payments would help arrange a meeting with "Tom" in person.

She did not disclose the relationship or the transactions to her family and the scam only came to light when her bank noticed unusual activity and notified police.

The offender remains at large but the force said officers supported the victim and helped her submit a complaint to her bank in an effort to recover the funds.

Det Insp Stacey Shannon, from the force's cyber and economic crime awareness Service, said: "Our dedicated team works tirelessly to support victims of romance fraud.

"In this case, they spent several hours with the victim, helping her understand that the relationship was fraudulent and not genuine.

"From there, they put additional safeguarding measures in place to ensure her ongoing protection."

A care plan was also submitted and referrals were made to specialist support services.

Police said that between April 2024 and March 2025 there were 267 reports of romance fraud in Greater Manchester with a reported £2.93m lost by victims.

Since May 2025, the force added it had helped recover £2.8m of victims' money.

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