A Nanaimo woman has lost $125,000 dollars after being scammed by a man she met on Facebook.
The woman in her seventies met the suspect after accepting a “friend” request on Facebook.
She developed what she believed was a close friendship over the course of several months. The suspect, who went by the name Tom Brown, said he was an engineer for an oil company in Africa. He claimed he money to fix his equipment and she sent him money. On another occasion, he asked for money to help with a medical emergency after he claimed he was seriously injured in a car accident.
Nanaimo RCMP Constable Gary O’Brien says it had all the hallmarks of a scam.
At one point, a “friend” of the suspect contacted the victim saying Brown had slipped into a coma as a result of the accident. The victim was even sent a picture of Brown lying in a hospital bed. Investigators have determined it was photoshopped.
The victim became suspicious, especially after she was contacted by someone claiming to be working with “Interpol”. They claimed Brown was under investigation for fraud, and asked her to pay $5000 to fund the investigation. O’Brien says that’s when the victim called Nanaimo RCMP.
He says the best advice in situations like this is to never send money to anyone you meet online if you cannot verify their existence. He says they’re investigating, but it will be difficult to track down the person responsible.
To learn more about online scams and how to protect yourself, check out the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s website.
