Fraudster Confronted After Dating-App Romance Scams (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: No, you're not looking to meet anybody, you're looking to steal from them, aren't you?

[00:00:04] Speaker 2: Ray MacDonald has been wrecking women's lives for more than 20 years. He meets them on dating apps, makes them believe they're in a relationship and takes every penny they have. Detectives believe MacDonald has hundreds of victims. He has 58 criminal convictions, 40 of which are for fraud and theft type offences. He's been in and out of prison for more than 20 years. In that time MacDonald has stolen tens of thousands of pounds from women he's met on dating apps. We set up a dating profile on the same dating app we knew MacDonald was on. We were going to try and catfish a criminal. Our colleague posed as Kay. He liked her profile and started messaging her. A date is set for Rob and Kay and a camera crew to meet in a park in central York. Ah, Rob.

[00:01:01] Speaker 1: Yes. Hi, yeah, it's not Rob though is it? No. It's Ray. Yes. Do you want to tell me why you're back on the dating apps Rob? Or Ray, or Mark is it? What have you got to say to the women who you've stolen from? Why do you target women? I don't target women, it's just I want to meet somebody nice. No, you're not looking to meet anybody, you're looking to steal from them, aren't you? No, I'm not, I really am not. It's all a lie, Ray, that's what you do. It's not a lie. You lie to women. No. You get them to fall in love with you. Fake marriages. People have lost houses, Ray. I have apologised. Lost their life savings, Ray. Back on the apps already, just out of prison.

[00:01:34] Speaker 2: So where's Ray McDonald now? Well, after breaching the terms of his licence, he's back in prison again.