Over the course of nearly a year, Brantford Police say, a woman lost nearly $400,000 to an online dating scam.
According to police, the woman – a senior citizen – joined a dating website last spring.
She quickly became involved in conversations with a man, first via the website and then via an online messenger.
The relationship then progressed to include hundreds of emails between the two, as well as telephone calls. Police say the pair were communicating multiple times each day.
Police say the woman repeatedly questioned the relationship and whether she was being fooled, but ultimately continued on with it for nearly a year before contacting police.
By that time, she had transferred about $400,000 to bank accounts in the United Kingdom and Ghana.
Police point to a number of potential red flags that online daters should be aware of:
- The alleged scammer suggested communications move off the dating website and onto an online messenger, which is less likely to be tracked by authorities
- The pair never met face-to-face
- The man told the woman that he had past ties to Hamilton. Fraudsters, police say, claim to have ties to a city near that of their victim.
- The man would ask the woman questions about her personal life, while deflecting her similar queries, and would claim to need money for hospital bills or because he had been robbed
