A Winnipeg woman is speaking out after she says she was the victim of an elaborate romance scam.
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she → speak → scam
“Over the course of six weeks, we talked every day, and I believed that we were establishing a romantic emotional connection,” the woman said.
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woman → talk → connection
Global News is not identifying the woman as she works with vulnerable youth.
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she → identify → youth
The woman says she met the man on Tinder.
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she → say → Tinder
“Within a month of us talking, he asked if I would be open to exclusivity with him as he just wanted to get to know me on a deeper level.
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he → talk → level
And I thought the same.
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I → think → same
We shared a lot of the same beliefs, thoughts, our ideologies, including like what we wanted in the future for ourselves,” she said.
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she → share → ourselves
“At this part of him and I talking for the six weeks, I never really had suspicions or doubts of what he was saying.”
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he → talk → what
She says the man, who Global News is not identifying, claimed to own a cybersecurity company, and had recently moved to Winnipeg but was on a business trip in Edmonton.
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She says they arranged to meet up in Toronto, before both returning back to Winnipeg.
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both → say → Winnipeg
The woman says she now believes the man was using a fake name.
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man → say → name
“He flew me out there.
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He → fly → me
The person that I met in Toronto aligned with what he was telling me over our conversations,’ she said.
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she → meet → conversations
She says when she met him, he appeared loving, generous, and protective.
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he → say → him
“There was never any moment I thought I was being deceived, he did a very good job making me believe he wanted to take care of me,” the woman said.
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woman → be → me
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The woman says he told her that his gym locker was broken into while in Edmonton and that his wallet was stolen, sending her photos of a broken gym locker.
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wallet → get → locker
She says he asked to use her credit card, and they rented a vehicle in Toronto with her credit card.
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they → say → card
But, the woman says, when she returned to Winnipeg, things started to change.
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things → say → Winnipeg
She says he told her his flight to Winnipeg was delayed, asked her to extend the rental vehicle, and asked if she could send him money.
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she → say → money
“I was a little bit hesitant but again I took the benefit of the doubt, so I sent him some money,” she said.
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she → take → money
“The turning point as well is when I told him the vehicle needed to be returned and that’s when I began to see a shift in his character, he became a lot more aggressive and volatile.”
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he → tell → character
Global News has viewed text messages and voice messages from the man, including texts and voice messages of him asking if she had a credit card, asking to use her credit card, and asking if she could transfer him money.
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she → view → money
The woman says she made a report with the rental car company, who tracked the vehicle through GPS and found it abandoned in a parking lot.
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it → say → lot
Global News has viewed the incident report and the rental bill.
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News → view → report
“What was flabbergasting to me is he continued to portray that he still had the vehicle to extort more money from me,” the woman said.
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woman → flabbergast → me
In total, she says she transferred him nearly $2,700, she was left with a $6,000 rental car bill, and he attempted to charge nearly $15,000 to her credit card, but the woman said she was able to have the credit card charges reversed.
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charges → say → card
She says he also requested an additional $3,000, but she declined.
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she → say → 3,000
She says she reported it to the Winnipeg Police Service.
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she → say → Service
A spokesperson for WPS wouldn’t provide specific details on the case, but said the investigation is ongoing.
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investigation → provide → case
In the meantime, she says she is speaking out and sharing her story in hopes of preventing other women from falling victim.
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she → say → victim
“He did a very good job making sure I wouldn’t know who he is,” she said.
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she → do → job
“And what concerns me the most is his arrogance in thinking no one would catch him.”
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one → concern → him
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, romance or relationship scams often target dating apps, but also often occur on social media and online gaming chatrooms.
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scams → accord → media
Jeff Horncastle, the client and communications outreach officer for the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, says often the scammers invest a lot of time in building up a victim’s trust.
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scammers → say → trust
“They want to make sure that personal trust is established before they request money or personal information.
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they → want → money
And unfortunately, we see that last for months before the first request for money happens,” Horncastle told Global News.
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Horncastle → see → News
“And that’s what makes romance fraud so detrimental not only financially but emotionally as well.”
In the first six months of 2026, there was $23 million in losses related to romance and relationship scams reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
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fraud → ’ → Centre
Horncastle says if you feel you may be a victim of a romance or relationship scam, it’s important to stop communication with the individual, and report it to police, your financial institution, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
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it → say → police
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