Even three weeks later, it's hard for Judith Gage to reckon with the sense of violation and vulnerability she feels after falling for an elaborate scam that started with a message appearing on her frozen computer screen and ended many hours later with her giving US$20,000 (RM93,650) cash to a man at the bottom of her driveway.

"I can't even describe it. It was almost like being on a path to self-destruction that I couldn't stop and maybe knowing at some level how incredibly crazy it all was and doing it anyway," Gage said, her voice breaking.