'He begged me': Brampton, Ont. woman loses more than $200K to romance scam

A Brampton woman says she is devastated after she lost more than $200,000 — her life's savings — to a romance scam.

CTV News Toronto agreed to identify the woman as Anne, a pseudonym to protect her identity.

Two years ago, Anne said she received a friend request from a man trying to strike up a friendship.

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"He just said he was looking for a friend and he seemed like a very nice person and he was always telling me I sound genuine and he would really like to be my friend. He also said he would like to come to Canada to visit me," said Anne.

Over the course of a year, the man confided in Anne, told her his wife died from cancer and that he had two sons who needed money for surgeries.

The man told Anne he would only need to borrow money from her, as he was working in Texas and was expecting a large cheque.

"He was going to get $5.6 million and it was a six month contract, so if I would help him out he would be able to pay me back," said Anne.

At first, Anne refused to send the money, but he would send her roses and eventually he talked her into it.

"He begged me and pleaded and he said, 'You seem like such a nice person if (you) would send the money,' and so I did," Anne said.

Over time, after Anne realized she had given her money to a man she had never met in-person, she said she grew concerned.

"Over a space of one year, he borrowed all my savings – over $200,000," Anne said.

In the end, Anne was scammed out of $230,000.

Romance scams are one of the three most common frauds in Canada, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, with Canadians losing more than $52 million to criminals last year. In the first half of 2024, Canadians lost nearly $23 million to these scammers.

With romance scams, cybersecurity experts say fraudsters search for lonely people online, where they will then start friendships, claim they need money, promise to pay the money back, and provide excuses on why they can't meet in person. Once money has been sent, it's nearly impossible to get back.

Anne says she is devastated, embarrassed and humiliated that she gave her life savings to a complete stranger.

"I'm very hurt and, you know, I could have been doing so much with my money, but now it's gone," said Anne.