Toronto man loses $80,000 to romance scam as advocates call for more fraud protection

Romance scams continue to be one of the most common frauds in Canada, and 778 Canadians have already lost over $54.6 million to them so far this year, according to the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre (CAFC).

One Toronto man is sharing his story after he lost $80,000 to a romance scam, at what he said was his most vulnerable moment.

“My separation was a tragic experience,” Hugo Sanchez told CTV News Toronto.

When Sanchez’ marriage ended last year, he said he was at an emotional low point. He went online looking for companionship and thought he found his soulmate.

“I was very vulnerable and I was not in my best stage and I did some internet surfing,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez told CTV News he met a woman on social media named Lina, who claimed to live in Seattle. They struck up a friendship and even spoke by video call several times. However, it was mostly texting, and within weeks, she had convinced him to invest in cryptocurrencies.

Sanchez said she claimed he would triple his money, but over time, he was scammed out of $80,000.

“I felt devastated. It was my savings and I also lost money I didn’t have,” he said.

While Sanchez is in his 40’s, typically romance scam victims are seniors.

The Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) has been raising awareness about romance scams, grandparent scams, and investment fraud, and is calling for tougher criminal code penalties.

“These crimes are not small crimes and they rob people of their savings and their trust in other people,” said Anthony Quinn, president of CARP.

CARP hopes for mandatory fraud preventions at banks and telecoms, “where a trusted contact person program like victim recovery mechanisms and national coordination can make an effort to share data.”

The organization also feels that banks must do more to prevent fraud.

“If you lost $80,000 to $100,000, that money has to be transferred out of your accounts using an electronic system run by the banks, and I think it is incumbent on the banks to play more of a role in protecting their clients,” said Quinn.

Sanchez wanted to share his story to warn others.

“I basically was thinking, ‘this might be real, this might be something that makes sense,’” he said. “But in the end everything was fake.”