The hateful thing about ** is that they may cheat not only people's trust and money, but also people's lives. A woman who lives in Ontario sells her house after falling in love** and ends up starving to death without a home, and her daughter who lives in Alberta is now seeking justice for her mother, hoping to catch **.
Source: Global News
Chantel Westguard told Global News: These people took everything from my mother.
Westguard refers to a complex and persistent love scam involving a man who claims to be an American ** officer, as well as several others.
Over the next two and a half years, the man allegedly expressed his love for Westguard's mother, Jarmila Westguard.
* Says that if Jarmila can help him "escape" - they can be together forever.
At the same time, the scheme to scam money begins.
Source: Global News
My mom is the kind of woman who opens up unconditionally if you're nice to her, Westguard said. Convince her to sell her house. Then, she started sending a lot of money to **.
Westguard said: My mom gave everything to this man.
74-year-old Jarmila Westguard even tried to put one loaded with 3The envelope of $60,000 in cash was sent directly to the United States.
But the police intervened, this time the payment was stopped, and she was fined. Banks were also informed, and many people cut off contact with her, and her family even sent her to a shelter.
Source: Global News
But Jarmila Westguard continued to send money to **, and she was now out of food and medicine. She eventually became homeless and hospitalized** and died Oct. 14 — just days before she planned to leave Ontario to join her daughter in Canmore.
Westguard said sadly: She starved to death. My mom was a beautiful woman, but when she died, she looked like a 100-year-old.
Chantel Westguard began to fight back
Chantel Westguard told Global News that the tragedy left her physically and mentally broken, but it also gave her the strength to fight back.
Westguard tried to deal with **, she pretended to be her deceased mother, and then texted the fraudsters promising more money. She said she was later given an exact address where she could send money.
Source: Global News
Recently, she received news from the police in Illinois, USA, who found the address on the text message she sent to the fraudster. A woman at the address was questioned but not arrested, who denied knowing what happened and claimed that she was also a victim.
Westguard said she was told the woman would be investigated for alleged money laundering.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) has noticed an increase in romance scams and investment scams, which are often referred to as "pig scams".
Source: Global News
This criminal act involves scammers trying to scam as much money as possible before the victim finds out or is aware of the scheme.
The CAFC said that from January 2023 to the end of September 2023, they received 650 reports of such scams, targeting 532 victims within Canada.
The total amount of loss is estimated to be as high as $29.8 million.
In Alberta, 70 reports of romance scams were submitted to the agency, involving 60 victims, with losses of up to $2.6 million.
In these scams, scammers connect with victims through dating apps or social networks, building relationships with them step by step, CAFC said. Once a relationship and trust have been established, the act of asking for money begins.
Warning signs include:
Someone you haven't met confesses their love to you.
Friend requests from strangers, or profiles that seem too perfect.
Ask for remote access to your device to "teach" you how to invest.
Provide investment opportunities with above-normal returns.
Request to transfer your cryptocurrency investments to another cryptocurrency address.
CAFC advises people not to accept friend requests from strangers, not to send money to people they have never met, and not to provide any personal or financial information.
Anyone who suspects they have been the victim of cybercrime or fraud should report it to their local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre's ** reporting system.