Roy woman is bilked on LDS dating Web site

A Roy woman looking for love on an LDS-themed dating Web site ended up being scammed out of thousands of dollars.

The Utah Department of Commerce said Friday the woman fell victim to a new version of the "Nigerian lottery scam." The woman signed up as a client on the Web site LDSPromise.com and met a man who called himself "James Calvin Peters." The victim said over instant message conversations that Peters asked for financial help.

The woman told investigators Peters sent her a fake cashier's check for $43,200. The man asked her to deposit the check and then wire the money to Nigeria via Western Union. The woman was told it was a scam and confronted Peters, who feigned ignorance, investigators said.

She was then told to wire the money to three other locations. Altogether, the Commerce Department said, the woman lost $5,670.

"Instead of finding love on the Internet, this victim was left heartbroken by a scam artist," Francine Giani, the executive director of the Utah Department of Commerce said in a statement Friday. She warned people who use Internet dating sites to be careful about financial requests.

The Commerce Department offers information on how to protect yourself from scams at www.consumerprotection.com.