By Dominic Abassi

Online dating scam claims another elderly Nanaimo victim

May 30, 2017 | 5:26 PM

NANAIMO — You can add another Nanaimo senior to the list of those who have lost thousands in search of love online.

According to Nanaimo RCMP, a 67-year-old woman lost $15,000 after falling for a man who started a relationship with her via Facebook.

Cst. Gary O’Brien described the ruse as “a very typical Facebook scam.” In January 2017, the woman received a random Facebook message from a man named Kevin Rand. He claimed to be stationed in Turkey with the U.S. Army.

O’Brien said within two months the messages and emails turned personal and the two were professing their love for each other, planning to get married and move to Florida.

“She was planning to retire because she loved him and she wanted to spend her years with him but this has had a significant setback. She can’t retire now, she has to continue working and she expects to be working well into her 70’s,” O’Brien said.

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He said the scam was put into full effect when Rand claimed a friend’s wife needed emergency surgery and wanted help to pay for it. The lady, identified only by the alias Mary, sent the money. More cash was wired when Rand told Mary he needed to pay to have some gold released from customs.

That was the last Mary heard from her supposed future husband.

In the grand scheme of online dating scams, $15,000 is a small amount of money to lose, according to O’Brien. In January of this year, a Nanaimo woman in her 70’s lost nearly $100,000 to a man she met on the dating website Match.com. In March 2015, another local senior was bilked out of $125,000 by someone she met on Facebook.

“I’m sadly surprised when I hear about more of these,” O’Brien said. “I’ve personally dealt with three of four women who have lost anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 and many were not aware at all of the scam that was being perpetuated.”

O’Brien said people between the ages of 55 and 80 are often prime targets and efforts are ongoing to help spread awareness and education. That includes reaching out through seniors’ homes and to shut-ins.

Catching the people behind these crimes is anything but easy for local Mounties. “Very difficult from a local perspective because many are operating overseas. Sadly for smaller ones, and this is relatively small on the scale for Facebook scams, there’s not a lot we can do.”

O’Brien said most of these fraud cases feature similar themes, including the person being overseas so you can’t meet them and a tragedy or accident of some kind.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has up-to-date information on current scams.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi