A Huron County resident lost $700,000 to a scam.
The Huron County OPP is investigating and the case was brought to their attention by the daughter of the victim.
Police say the victim, a senior, met the scammer online in 2018 through a popular social media messenger service. The scammer claimed to be a surgeon working for the United Nations and at one point used a ruse that he had been abducted by a terrorist entity and needed some money to pay off his ransom.
The scammer was also sent money to help with surgeries, medical treatment, international flights and other emergencies.
According to statistics collected by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre in 2020, 899 complaints were received related to romance scams which included 620 victims who lost over $18.5 million to scammers pretending to be in love.