She’s probably going to say her car/something broke down and she needs money ASAP to meet him.
Also, lol @ CEO of a company that doesn’t have any device with a working camera…

Some variety of a so-called Pig Butchering Scam.

What should we expect next?

Likely she will cancel the trip at the last second and claim to have a work or family emergency. Then she will need money.

Or shortly before the trip she will share an investment opportunity and offer him to join her in it. It will turn out to be fake.

Or both.

sounds like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_butchering_scam it's in early phase so far

One of my uncle is currently involved in scams like this one with multiple women at the same time. They all love him, they all want his money. Last time I checked, he lost most of his money and almost became homeless.

I hope you can do anything to your father because he will lose a lot.

No organs will be harvested: he's too old for that. But it doesn't mean he won't be butchered: he will be butchered like a pig

The meeting will be called off last minute and it will either be a shady investment or ill father in South Asia.

It is utterly important for you to stay with him and plan this through, as it seems like he already trusts the scammer more than you. You are losing him.

Scamming old people has grown into a massive and well organized industry that brings in billions in profits per year. It is a huge problem that has continued to get worse. As others have said, this is 100% a scam. They will inevitably use any number of techniques to extract money from him. It is very possible they already have and he just hasn't told you yet, it is not uncommon for the victims to be secretive about what the scammers are getting them to do.

Among your other points, a wealthy 40 year old CEO looking for romance is going to pick a guy below her age, not one who's 72.

Pretty sure the only organ they'll harvest is his wallet but they can cut pretty deep financially, and break his heart.

Know any real women who might make a better match for him?

This is a scam. 1000%. Do what you gotta do to stop it.

My dad is on his third one of these. The first one eventually said she could help him buy Bitcoin at which point he realized it was probably a scam and stopped talking to her. I can't remember what happened with the second, but the third invited him out to the west coast so he could drive her fancy super car. I'm guessing before it gets that far she'll bring up money and he'll realize it's a scam again.

I'm not too worried about my dad yet because he doesn't get too invested in the whole thing and isn't one to send money to people, but I plan on bringing it up if he ever brings up sending money to, or visiting one.

No one has a broken webcam in 2026. Especially if ahes supposedly a company CEO, like that is a solved-today problem if it was ever true.

Also unless your dad is also loaded, there’s not a ton of incentive for a successful woman in her early forties to start a romance with someone nearly twice her age, I mean that may sound awful but I’m a woman and that’s just pragmatic. A long distance gamble on a set of old balls? If she’s just in to older men, I’m sure there are plenty in a 10 minute vicinity, she doesn’t need to fw men on the other side of the country.

Others mentioned it, but this is a clear pig butcher attempt. I get them through text about twice a year. As soon as I politely ask them if they're trying to perform a pig butcher or ir they know what one is, they usually shut up.

Your father will lose everything if you can't convince him of this.

web camera is not working

In 2026 that's the most obvious sign it's a scam. However even these days you can have live AI visual and audio filters.

Just in case he needs some more red flags

This is definitely a scam, though I'm also confused by your dad traveling, usually that's other way around (and that's where "complications" happen where money is "needed").

Try to tell your dad what you expect coming - there will be complications and she will ask for money. Likely only a little at first, but the number will be rising.

Also, since they are impersonating (or acting like) a public figure, try searchig for the name online. Your dad is likely not the first (or last) that fell for this particular scam. Other people might be sharing stories with this person. There might be messages shared that people exchanged with the scammer - these will likely match those sent to your dad (the scammers usually have multiple people going at the same time). Use that - if your dad reads on the internet the exact message he got from his love interest, that hopefuly will ring some alarm bells. Though in the age of AI this might not be the case anymore, it's worth a shot.

Talk with your dad, ask how things are going and try to be vigilant for money being asked for. Try to poke holes in the stories but be gentle so your dad doesn't shut you out - he will likely not be that willing to listen. One way or another he will get hurt - you can just minimize the financial damage - or limit it to emotional only.

Good luck.

It's a pig butchering scam. She won't ever ask for money, she will just start drip-feeding "investment advice" that will typically direct him to an app in the Google Play Store (or Apple App Store) that is a full on fraud. Yes, they have complete scam/fraud apps in the legitimate app stores that look like legitimate investment apps (but sure Google, you have to block side-loading to keep your customer's safe - fucking frauds all the way down...).

Your dad might already be on the hook for thousands thinking he is investing and making a huge return. The victim doesn't know they are in deep until they try to pull the money out and find out it doesn't actually exist. None of it. Not their "profit". Not their original "investments". He doesn't think it's a scam because he didn't send her any money. He just thinks his new friend (or girlfriend) is giving him tips and he is investing with a "trusted" app from a "trusted" source - after all it is on the app store.

Get your dad watching Kitboga. Show him the Last Week Tonight segment on pig butchering scams (it's on youtube). I don't know what else to do, I don't know if there are any legal avenues that can help or not, unfortunately, until he knows he is being scammed. If the idea that a 40 year old CEO absolute smoke-show woman wants to DATE a 72 year old widower retiree isn't sending enough red flags to make him keep his walls up, it's going to be a hard battle to convince him.

Deepfakes combined with a romance scam. Pretend to be someone with a legitimate background that you father can verify himself, legitimised with synthetic images and voice (video isn't quite there in terms of reliable quality, so they stick to static images), some of which will even contain current dates/events and even his name written out, all to make it seem like a real person.

The scammer is playing the long con, building a relationship and slowly working towards a situation where your father wants to give them money, or even slips up and provides them with some sort of access to his accounts. It's not going to be sudden or obvious. They may not even ask directly, but craft a scenario where your father offers himself.

https://youtu.be/srr0rRgF2Fw

https://youtu.be/ACijyfS3ya4

If she's CEO of a company, she can afford a fifty quid webcam to plug into her PC.

Never mind all the other red flags.

Here's the thing: Even if she could do a video call, that doesn't really prove anything.

Having said that, she's 40 and she's a CEO. If her "webcam is not working" she has the means to rectify that quickly. Not to mention, there's basically no chance a 40 year old CEO of an international organization doesn't have a phone that can do video calls, let alone no laptop/device capable of it. It's pretty much going to be essential for that type of job. She'd buy a new laptop, new phone, get the existing stuff fixed.

Yes it's a scam. There are many variations of how these work and there's not always a one size fits all script. They'll say whatever it takes and it could be anything.

Some will ask for money directly. Some will lure the target into crypto scams. This general type of romance scam typically involves building trust over time, and then suddenly concocting an urgent situation requiring money. The idea is that they need help ASAP, and if the target doesn't act quickly, the scam artist is going to be in a lot of danger/trouble. For instance, she might claim that she traveled abroad and something happened (ex: lost passport, stolen purse) that requires lots of money now. Or maybe because she's stuck in another country without ID, she needs someone in the USA (your dad) to cover some bogus financial transaction for the company or they will face big fines/bankruptcy/lose the biggest client/etc.

Also, people who are being scammed often lie about whether or not they've sent money. Deep down they know they may suspect they've been taken advantage of and feel embarrassed/ashamed about it. Even people that you feel 100% would never lie to you about that, will lie about that up to a point.

A lot of people mentioned the broken webcam as evidence of the scam. I would add that modern AI tools can deepfake a video stream, apparently this already happens in other tech scams where the scammers immitate real people that have a LinkedIn account and existing online presence.

May I be as delusional in my 70s to believe I can still pull a 40 year old for reasons that have nothing to do with money

That “company” is the key part of the scam here. Your father will be asked to invest money in it for various reasons. Whether they’ll go for the “it’s a great deal” or “help me Obi Wan” angle is dependent on the mark.

It's easier to scam someone again rather than convince them they're being scammed.

You are to be applauded for watching out and caring for your father - I”m sorry for both of your loss of your dear mother and I know, you are hurting as much as he is…

You will have to tread carefully, depending upon his level of dementia -since he firmly believes this scam and will not respond well to being told he’s wrong and trying to convince him

The best approach will be to gather some solid empirical evidence on paper - do your research on everything you can get about the company - look at the company website suspiciously (source code) - everything you can find with her name, her phone number, the company address (on Google maps) etc…

be sure to do this research anywhere other than social media, everything on social media will support her story/lies - It will take some work, but will be worth it for when you talk to him

Once you have the evidence in hand and are ready to talk with your father, began by telling him how much you love him and care for him and will do anything to protect him - make sure it’s all about him and not money -

Then you can show him the evidence and help ease his way to understanding-

This is all a part of his grieving the loss of his life partner, and trying to ease his own pain

I wish you well in taking care of your father, please DM me and tell me how it went

(Source: an elderly man who went through much of the same with his elderly father)

Lots of good info already, so I'll just leave a look to a good podcast episode on pig butchering scams.

https://darknetdiaries.com/transcript/141/

fwiw sometimes the people playing the "bait" are themselves victims of human trafficking. If they don't bring in enough money, they are forced into prostitution. source.

You should start asking for money. Just $50 see what happens.

Or... Hear me out. Maybe, just maybe this lonely, beautiful, youthful 40 something CEO, who can't dial a phone number really IS in love with your 72 year old dad. I mean stranger things have happened. Either way, this could be fun.

You know... Just a thought.

A lot of the comments are about the scam and not about what you should do to help your father.

Make him aware that it's a "romance scam" and that this was set up from the beginning for money. Tell him what to expect and hopefully when this person finally starts with the money requests he will remember what you said and understand for himself what is happening.

Second, the biggest concern would be his inability to get out of the situation and feeling pressured in the moment to give an answer or send money. I don't specifically have a recommendation for how he can avoid this, but generally it's best if people have their own transportation and can leave at any time.

Also, I would stay in touch with him frequently. He is interacting with this person. Talk on the phone several times a day. It's going to be impossible for him to walk away unless you can help him.

Edit: typo