California widow was busy looking at homes online with millionaire boyfriend for their future. Then she discovers she has been the ‘perfect’ victim

A romantic scammer believed to be Nigerian was able to convince a California widow out of $425,000 — at one point, even convincing her to sell her Riverside home below market price. Bonnie Doose, 76, says the experience was similar to being “brainwashed.”

Doose became a widow in 2023 when her husband died by suicide after a long battle with a terminal illness. From then on, she described her life as lonely. She has no children, and her closest relative is a stepniece who lives in San Bernardino County, so she went online and shared that she was looking for companionship. “I just put it out there,” she said. “I’m honest.”

But as she put it, it all made her tge “perfect” victim.

At that point, a man who claimed to be named Dean Ramirez reached out to her, and after several texts back and forth, Ramirez gained her trust. But as it turned out, not everyone was as honest as Doose, and that trust was soon pushed to its limit.

He claimed to be a millionaire

Ramirez told her that he used to work as an oil rigger. He then showed her texts that supposedly proved he had $7 million in his checking account. He then told her that he just needed a few thousand dollars to clear his tax lien.

At this point, Doose had still not met Ramirez — and she now knows she never will. Yet she still started sending him money. According to The New York Post, Doose first sent him $250,000. But Ramirez’s emergencies just kept landing on her doorstep.

Soon she was selling her house for $377,000 — which is reportedly $90,000 below market rate — just so she could send him $175,000. She kept sending him money until her neighbor started getting concerned. After repeated warnings, Doose finally reached out to attorney John E. Tiedt and the Riverside Police Department.

From that point on, according to The Press Enterprise, she cut contact with the man supposedly named Ramirez. Preliminary investigations have given authorities reason to believe the romance scam originated in Nigeria and that the perpetrator is using multiple intermediaries to avoid arrest.

“They almost had a script perfect for her, obviously not the first, probably hundreds before her, but they came with the right script. They got her trust. And from that point forward, she knew that she was not going to be lonely anymore, that she had a chance of living out her years with somebody in a new home that he had promised. The hook was in.” – John E. Tiedt

Riverside police Detective Robert Olsen revealed that these types of scams are now among the biggest sources of crime targeting senior citizens aged 65 and older. He said, “Primarily, when we are dealing with the elderly, it’s not about educating the elderly as much as educating the people around them to notice when these things are occurring.”

Reportedly, Ramirez still hadn’t had his fill because even after Doose stopped contacting him, he was still texting her. One read, “Honey I have been so worried,” followed by a prayer emoji. Another text then read, “Please try to reach me. Dean.”

She has advice for people

Doose is currently still living in the home she sold — but that’s only because of the goodwill of the buyer. Her attorney, Tiedt, believes there’s no known path for her to get her property back after the sale and that this might just be her new reality.

The investigation is still ongoing, and authorities hope they can, at the very least, make an arrest, if not secure a full reimbursement. But Doose does have advice for people being asked for money by online romantic interests: “Get rid of them fast.”