Police rescue woman after internet relationship

Police are warning of the dangers of internet relationships after a German woman who struck up an online relationship with a New Zealand man was rescued by armed police in Dunedin on Saturday.

The 30-year-old woman arrived in Dunedin to find the man she had met online was "not who he had portrayed himself to be", Detective Senior Sergeant Steve McGregor told the Otago Daily Times.

Mr McGregor said friends of the woman had become concerned for her safety when she failed to meet up with them as arranged after going to meet the man.

Police visited a house in Roslyn, Dunedin, but when they did not find the woman there, and given the concerns the friends had raised with them, they sent in the armed offenders squad (AOS).

Witnesses said they heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the Garfield Avenue address as dozens of armed police swarmed the house about 6.30pm on Saturday, but police said no shots were fired in what they described as a "dangerous situation".

Some of the woman's belongings were found at the property, but she was not there.

Shortly before midnight on Saturday, she returned with the man.

"She was unharmed and grateful for police intervention," Mr McGregor said.

The woman told detectives yesterday she had become increasingly alarmed since meeting the man at Dunedin Airport on February 8 because it was obvious the man had lied to her about his personal circumstances, Mr McGregor said.

He warned of the dangers of meeting people through the internet, and said caution was essential when making arrangements to meet such people.

This was particularly important when a meeting was arranged in a strange or foreign place and particularly in a foreign country where a person might not have family or friendly support.

"This isolation has the potential to place them in a dangerous situation they may not have anticipated or been prepared for," Mr McGregor said.

Police were not planning to lay charges against the man.

- NZPA