Smooth-talking conman Keyur Vyas has been jailed for six years and a month for cheating women he met online out of a total of £600,000 by pretending to be in a relationship with each of them.

The 32-year-old recruitment agent from East Ferry Road on the Isle of Dogs was sentenced yesterday on four charges of fraud after he sweet-talked his way into persuading the women to invest in bogus companies.

An investigation into Vyas’s activities by the Met’s Central Specialist Command began in October 2014 when six women were involved.

He befriend the women online, pretending to build a relationship with each one, wining and dining them—then tricking them into believing he was affluent and working in finance.

The women were encouraged to invest their savings in business ventures, once he gained their trust.

But the ‘ventures’ didn’t exist. He was gambling with the money instead.

He even used fear tactics, warning them that going to the police would mean losing all their ‘investment’.

It was only when the women finally failed to get their money back that they began reporting their concerns.

“Vyas operated with a ‘tried and tested’ technique to carry out fraud,” Det Con Andy Chapman said.

“He used the trust he had gained to get them to invest in non-existing companies and went as far as having fake contracts drawn up with outlandish conditions.

“Vyas used the relationships to get their money. He was selfish and cruel by emotionally involving them to con them out of a total of almost £640,000.”

Vyas pleaded guilty at Kingston Crown Court in March to four charges of fraud by false representation, with another two charges remaining on file.

Total loss for all the charges including two left on file was nearly £809,000.

Police are advising anyone in an online relationship, whatever the nature, never to send personal details or money to someone they have never met in person.