Amy Todd was persuaded by Jon Boulder that contributing tens of thousands of dollars to his equestrian enterprise would result in earnings that would augment her income as a single mother. When the money didn’t materialize, Ms. Todd looked into the business, and her love story fell apart. He wasn’t even called Jon Boulder.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre loves to warn us before Valentine’s Day that romance fraudsters in Canada steal millions of dollars every year. In terms of money lost by Canadians, romance scams are the second most frequent sort of fraud behind investment scams. Ms. Todd, an office worker in Brantford, Ontario, described it to me as “humiliating.” Because it was such a massive error on my part and it had such a negative impact on my life, “I loathed myself for years over it.” She owes her bank 20,000 Canadian dollars for the credit line she claimed to have gotten to make investments in what she claimed to be his company. Over a thousand victims lost $27.8 million to romance scams in 2020, 1,391 victims lost $64.2 million in 2021, and 1,056 victims lost $59 million in 2022, according to alarming statistics.
The person who allegedly deceived Ms. Todd is actually named Jon Mulder. Numerous women have accused Mr. Mulder of various offenses, including fraud. Sometimes, that message is all it takes. Seniors are frequently the target of scammers. Prior to the pandemic, the majority of fraud instances that crossed desks included simple manipulation. Romance or cryptocurrency scammers are just two examples of the clever fraudsters of today. In order to lessen suspicion, they even give victims advice on what to say at the bank counter. Sometimes all it takes is a message to lure you into something that was actually not meant to be seen or opened. Common facts that we all know is never accept requests on your social media account where you don’t know/ recognize the name and never click on links from emails or texts where you don’t recognize where it is coming from. Even though it might look legitimate at first there is always someone hidden behind the screen who is trying to scam you and get what they want from you. Be careful with who you respond to and talk to because you don’t know who is behind the screen half of the time.