Ontario
Provincial Police were investigating a claim that a Huron County woman was
conned out of $32,000 by a man she met through an online-dating site, the Huron Bullet News reported last March. The
woman and her new friend communicated online for several months, with the fraudster
sending her fake photos. Once she was hooked, he asked for money, telling her
he was having customs problems while travelling in Russia and China. She wired
a total of $32,000 in multiple transactions, the News said.
In a related development, Constable
Michael Russell said victims are offered a share of profits or other benefits
if they send money overseas to help their online friend with shipping and
storing a large quantity of gold, CP
said. One victim paid as much as $50,000 before the fraud was discovered, Russell
said. Police and the anti-fraud centre say there are ways to protect yourself
against online-dating scams, especially the ones sourced outside your
community. "If you cannot get that person to meet face to face, if you
start to get excuses as to why that cannot happen, I think that should be a bit
of a red flag,” Staff Sgt. Stephanie Burns of the Ottawa police anti-fraud
section told CBC News.
“If the person starts talking about money issues inappropriately early in the
relationship, I think that should be an indicator perhaps this person’s motives
are not what yours are.”
Williams
said organized fraud groups often use templates for their messages, which
sometimes can be found via Internet searches. An example can be seen on RomanceScam.com, CBC News noted. Ontario's
Ministry of Consumer Services, among other places, offers
hints on how spot potential online dating scams.
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