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Victim of online dating scam sees return of $11,000

After being jilted and swindled on an online dating site, the last thing a North Vancouver woman expected to see was her money again.
RCMP

After being jilted and swindled on an online dating site, the last thing a North Vancouver woman expected to see was her money again.

The RCMP recently returned $11,000 to the victim of an online Con Juan who bilked her out of about $27,000 through the dating website match.com.

After months of lengthy conversations via instant messaging, the duplicitous dater – who posed as a Canadian working in Saudi Arabia – asked the middle-aged woman to loan him $30,000 to cover legal fees connected to a construction project.

She sent him $27,000. His profile subsequently vanished.

After realizing she’d been defrauded, the woman reported the scam to police. The quickness of her response made a critical difference in tracking down the cash, according to North Vancouver RCMP spokesman Cpl. Richard De Jong.

The woman directed the cops to the Canadian financial institution where the money was transferred.

“Because it was still in Canada, we were able to alert them and the victim put a freeze on that account,” De Jong said. “She’s very fortunate … the funds were still in Canada, often they’re offshore.”

The woman was “shocked” and “very, very pleased” the money was recovered, according to De Jong.

“She didn’t expect anything back,” he said, explaining that money is rarely recovered from Internet scams.

But while the bank account is in Canada, the fraudster could be anywhere, according to De Jong.

“The person could be overseas and have a Canadian bank account,” he said, explaining a friend could withdraw and launder the money. “The tentacles of this go literally worldwide.”

Asked why the account hadn’t been drained immediately, De Jong said it was perplexing.

“The mind of a criminal. Who really knows?” he asked.

The incident is a reminder to be wary of online predators, according to police.

The couple never spoke via webcam or in person but the scammer won her trust through a series of hour-long online exchanges.

“(Professional scammers) know the words to say, they understand the vulnerability of people,” De Jong said.

Police advise visitors to dating sites to withhold their personal, credit card and banking information.