A Canadian woman sent $1.3 million in retirement savings to a man she found on Match.com, despite having never met him in the flesh. Source: ThinkStock
A CANADIAN woman who joined an online dating site looking for a companion instead lost $1.3 million to a fraudster she had never met in person.
"Ellen", who shared her embarrassing tale on condition of anonymity, signed up to Match.com in 2010 thinking it would be "fun just to banter back and forth with someone," she told the Toronto Star.
It was there that the retiree from British Columbia, who was 65 at the time, met "Dave Field". His profile picture showed a somewhat handsome, balding middle-aged man. They chatted online and over the phone: He told her he was of Swedish descent but living in Los Angeles. She was intrigued.
Things escalated when Ellen suggested the pair meet in LA: "He didn’t balk at that," she recalled.
But things changed when she booked her flight. He suddenly claimed he was busy, or that he had appointments. She cancelled that reservation and tried again a few weeks later. He continued to dodge her.
"So I just put it on the line and said, ‘What’s up with this? Why are we playing games?’" Ellen recalled. "He said, 'It’s not a game.' And what was the excuse? He was trying to unravel his father’s estate."
Dave told Ellen he had been left a large inheritance offshore, but because of a lawyer’s incompetence, he had to clear some debts before he could sell the assets.
"I am of the nature that I would help anybody,” Ellen told the newspaper. "I don’t like the idea of not being able to help somebody if I can."
She began transferring money to Dave, or people claiming to act for him, via MoneyGram: first $C945 ($977), then tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time. Gradually, her retirement savings were funneled into accounts in Hong Kong, Greece, Singapore - even Nigeria.
Documentation showed transfers totalling roughly $C1.3 million, in US dollars, euros and British pounds.
Whenever she became reluctant to send more, "It was, 'You’ve already sent me this money - how am I supposed to pay you back if we don’t go to the next step?'" Ellen said. Dave would also sweeten his shakedowns with endearments like "baby," "honey" and "sweetheart".
Ellen finally came to her senses when a relative told her point blank that she was being conned.
She eventually took the matter to the authorities, but it was unclear what happened to her complaint.
Ellen was still at a loss to explain how she was reeled in so far. Her advice to other would-be romantics: "Never make a payment. Never. That first payment is the hook. I wish I could shake people."
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