How a UK widow died in Ghana while chasing £1 million lost to romance scams - Report

A 69-year-old UK widow, Janet Fordham, died in a car crash in Ghana after losing up to £1 million to a series of romance scams that drained her savings and cost her home, an inquest has heard.

According to a report by Sky News published on April 22, 2026, the Devon Coroner’s Court was told that Fordham had been targeted by multiple online fraudsters over a five-year period.

The scams left her financially devastated, forcing her to sell her home and exhaust her life savings.

At the time she travelled to Ghana, the retired housekeeper was living in a caravan at her son Martin’s home in Honiton, Devon, along with his wife, Melanie Fordham.

Fordham’s ordeal began in 2017 when she joined online dating platforms and connected with a man who claimed to be a British Army sergeant major stationed in Syria.

He allegedly convinced her to send money under the pretext of helping him transport gold bars to the UK.

Believing they were in a genuine relationship, Fordham told her family they planned to settle down together upon his return.

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Her daughter-in-law, Melanie Fordham, said she had warned her not to send money.

“I told her categorically not to send him any. Janet had been sending money to him, but we didn’t find out about this until years later. I believe she gave him around £150,000,” Melanie said.

Despite this experience, Fordham was later defrauded again by someone posing as a diplomat, particularly after her UK bank accounts were frozen.

Her family said they remain unsure how she became involved in multiple scams over time.

Melanie explained that Janet Fordham used several channels to transfer money, including bank transactions, post office wire services and possibly even a travel agent.

Eventually, both banks and the post office blocked her from making further transfers after identifying signs of fraud.

The situation escalated when another man, identified as Kofi, contacted Fordham, claiming to be a doctor in Ghana who worked part-time at a phone repair shop.

He told her he had discovered a phone containing her previous conversations with scammers and offered to help her recover the lost funds.

Melanie Fordham said Kofi’s claims drew her mother-in-law deeper into the situation.

Police had earlier tried to intervene. Detective Sergeant Ben Smith told the inquest that officers had spoken to Fordham in 2017, 2020 and 2022, urging her to cut off contact with the fraudsters and stop sending money.

However, she continued acting on her own decisions.

Even after warnings, Fordham reportedly kept transferring money abroad using Bitcoin and ATM withdrawals, prompting further concern from her family.

Reflecting on the situation, Melanie said: “Whether she was in so deep that she couldn’t accept it was all gone, she had to keep piling money in the hope of getting something back. Whether she genuinely believed what she was being told, we will never know.”

In addition to losing her savings and property, Fordham borrowed around £140,000 from relatives, fell behind on loans and credit card payments, and withdrew the maximum daily limit from her pension.

In October 2022, she travelled to Ghana to meet Kofi, with whom she had developed a romantic relationship.

Despite efforts by her family to stop her, she remained determined.

Melanie said: “As a family, we tried everything to stop her, but she was adamant. I spoke to her doctor, sought legal advice, but because she was of sound mind, albeit brainwashed, she was deemed to have capacity and there was nothing we could do.”

While in Ghana, Fordham and Kofi were travelling from Accra to the Oti Region to seek family approval for marriage when their vehicle veered off the road and crashed.

She sustained fatal injuries in the accident.

Detective Sergeant Smith told the inquest there was no third-party involvement in the crash.

Kofi later admitted to driving-related offences and received a suspended prison sentence along with a fine.

Delivering his conclusion, senior coroner Philip Spinney said: “I conclude that Janet Fordham died as a consequence of a head injury that was probably sustained in a road traffic collision.”

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