NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – It’s a woman’s worst nightmare that left one person out of nearly a thousand dollars. Meghan Dubuke sat down with News 2 after she says she met someone through a dating app. However, a quick lie turned into a theft.

“Go with your gut, go with your gut every time, every time, because every time I don’t, stuff happens,” said Dubuke.

It all started with a dating app. Dubuke, like most who go online, was looking for someone nice and good-looking to go out with. One profile stood out.

“I get along best with people who are genuine,” she read from his profile.

For months, the two had talked back and forth. She liked the fact that he would often call instead of the usual “hey” or “what’s up” through text messages. Finally, they set a time and place for a date.

“Everything was normal, and like, I had the strongest connection with him. It was like hanging out with one of my best friends, like no bad vibes,” said Dubuke, describing what seemed to be a great date, until something out of ordinary happened. “He was like ‘hey umm my phone died, I’m hungry again. Can I order Uber Eats on your phone?’ I was like ‘yea’.”

Still, everything seemed normal. Until 2 days later, when she noticed something wrong.

“I was going to pay my babysitter on Venmo and I saw $600 that I had sent to a fake business, and I immediately am like, I’m going to text him,” said Dubuke.

She still held out hope that a mistake was made. She confronted her date, who had told her it wasn’t him. Debuke looked again and saw the name of the “person” who received the money. She then asked the company for information on the “business.”

“Like hey, this wasn’t me I don’t know how this happened on my phone, can I see the business owner’s name and they sent me all the documentation and it says his name,” Dubuke explained.

She then filed a report with the Metro Nashville Police Department.

The Federal Trade Commission has long since been tracking victims just like Dubuke. They’re called, “romance scammers” and they are masters of disguise are able to hide their identity and motives behind a screen. In 2021, the agency found more than $500 million was lost due to romance scammers.

That is why Dubuke started the process of trying to get her money back, contacting the mobile payment service and requesting a refund. However, she was told that wouldn’t be possible because the payment came from her phone, meaning her account wasn’t hacked.

News 2 is not sharing the name of the man Dubuke said did this to her, because he hasn’t been charged with wire theft, and police have not said they are looking to find him. However, the department says they do have the report and plan to follow up.