Mounties in Nanaimo are searching for a man who swindled a senior out of nearly $100,000 in a cold-hearted online dating scam.
The elderly woman met the man on Match.com late last year following the death of her husband and soon developed a relationship with him, according to police.
The man claimed to be a civil engineer named Jonathan Lucron who was working in China, and soon started asking the woman to wire him money for various work projects before even meeting her in person.
Police say the fraud culminated with Lucron telling the woman he was travelling to a city near her and was going to ask her to marry him.
The woman was elated and travelled to the city to await his arrival – but he never came.
“After two days and checking with every possible airline, she realized he wasn't going to show,” Nanaimo RCMP said in a release. “It was then that she realized she had been scammed and decided to report it to the Nanaimo RCMP.”
Since opening up an investigation, police haven’t been able to track down a Jonathan Lucron – and say the phone number he was using was traced back to southern Ontario.
Police say the woman suffered the same fate as victims of similar scams around the world.
They’re using the incident as a reminder to online daters that anyone who asks for money should set off alarm bells.
RCMP say for more information on dating scams or to report one, go to the Anti-Fraud Centre’s website.
