‘Unsettling’: Woman allegedly impersonated Ontario massage therapist for months

FILE: A massage table is seen in an undated image from Shutterstock.

A Toronto massage therapist says that she is living in fear and frustration after learning that an unknown woman had allegedly been impersonating her for months and is still wanted by Toronto police.

Earlier this month, on Dec. 10, authorities with the Toronto police issued a press release requesting the public’s help finding a woman wanted in two fraud investigations that took place at two downtown spas.

For nearly five months, spanning from January to May, police allege 36-year-old Sikatema Lishomwa acted as a registered massage therapist. She provided treatments on clients, charged them for her services, but allegedly was doing so under the guise of a current RMT.

• READ MORE: Woman impersonated a registered massage therapist while performing treatments at two Toronto businesses: police

That RMT was allegedly Alexandra, who wrote to CTV News Toronto soon after we published an article that police are still searching for Lishomwa, who is wanted on numerous offences including assault, fraud, forged passport and documents, and 17 counts of identity theft. CTV News Toronto is identifying Alexandra by first name only due to safety concerns.

Alexandra says she was under the impression that police had already found Lishomwa and was devastated to learn that she was still outstanding.

“I had reached out to them in mid-September requesting an update, and had never heard back from him,” she said. “I don’t know why in my head I was like, ‘Oh, that just means there’s nothing to worry about.’”

Alexandra says she first learned of a woman using her RMT credentials in July when she was making her way to the airport for a red-eye flight to Ireland.

A spa in Grafton, Ont., had called after receiving a “very strange interview” with a woman who went by a version of Alexandra’s name and had her exact registration number—something the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO) provides massage therapists registered under its regulatory body.

Alexandra says they were provided with a positive “positive” reference by elmspa, a boutique spa located in the Church-Wellesley Village. She said that according to a copy of the resume she was provided and that Lishomwa was allegedly using, the woman worked at that spa for about five months.

Elmspa did not detail their hiring processes to CTV News Toronto or when they were notified of the allegations against Lishomwa.

“When we became aware that a former employee had allegedly falsified her Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) credentials to obtain employment at our spa, we proceeded to notify every client who had received treatment from her, advised them that she was not a licensed RMT, and provided full refunds,” elmspa said in an email, adding they notified the insurers, the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO), the Ontario Privacy Commissioner and police.

Days later after that call, Alexandra says a second spa out of Kingston became suspicious and called, informing her that a woman recently interviewed there and carried a passport with her name on it.

“They did an ID check and so from there, when they said, ‘Oh, she has a forged document,’ that’s when I was like, ‘Oh my God,’” Alexandra recounted.

“And then everything spiraled from there, and I went to the police.”

Alexandra said she contacted Toronto police to file a report of identity theft, and the CMTO issued its first notice warning of an individual falsely posing as an RMT, though Lishomwa’s identity was unknown at that time.

After a few days, she said she was asked a few follow-up questions, and then maybe a month later Alexandra was called down to 51 Division to give a formal statement after being told that they had located Lishomwa.

“It seemed that they had found her under a circumstance that wasn’t related to RMT, I don’t know the details of that,” Alexandra said. “From what I understand, they were able to apprehend her.”

Toronto Police did not comment, pointing to the active investigation and the release that was recently published.

“The investigator will provide an update to her,” Toronto police’s Cindy Chung said in an email. “I have no further comments to provide.”

‘This is an isolated incident’

Alexandra says she has never met, or even seen, Lishomwa before and is unsure how she was able to get ahold of her professional information but posited it is not that hard to find.

“It doesn’t seem like she had anything of mine that was actually related to me outside of my RMT number, thank goodness, and, frankly, every RMT receipt that you issue has your full name and your RMT number,” Alexandra said.

“You can get that information pretty simply if you book an appointment with me … someone could have just found it in the trash, like it really is pretty public information.”

The CMTO has a public register where anyone can see the registration status of a massage therapist, where they work at, when and where they went to school, and whether or not there is an alert for them. It’s there to act as a tool for the public to confirm a practitioner’s authorization before booking a treatment, the CMTO told CTV News Toronto.

“CMTO shares information as part of our mandate to protect the public interest,” Sam Harris, a policy and communications manager at CMTO, said in an email.

The regulatory body published a second release alerting the public that Lishomwa is not registered with the CMTO or authorized to practice massage therapy in the province. Harris says they issue advisories like these as part of its mandate to protect the public interest.

“This helps to ensure that Ontarians are aware of the risks and understand that this person is not authorized to practice massage therapy in Ontario,” Harris said.

“This is an isolated incident and not indicative of a growing trend.”

‘I’m not really sure where she is, or what her plans are’

For Alexandra, she says the incident has sowed paranoia and steeped anxiety, prompting her to leave the clinic she primarily worked at in September as she felt like she had to keep looking over her shoulder. Seeing the news that the woman who was allegedly impersonating her was still out there, months later, made her heart sink, she said.

“Honestly, I feel a little bit nervous. I’m not really sure where she is, or what her plans are,” Alexandra said.

“I don’t want to say I’m scared of her, but I have to assume she knows who I am, and this is something kind of unsettling about it.”