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A Southwestern Ontario man lost $83,000 over two years in a complex romance scam that involved marrying a U.S. woman he’d never met and agreeing to home renovations she recommended, police say.
A 65-year-old Alymer man told police last week that about two years ago he met a woman online, police in that town southeast of London said on Monday. After several online interactions, police said, the duo was married by proxy in the United States despite having never met in person.
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Over the course of their two-year relationship, the man gave about $30,000 to the woman after being told money was needed for medical and other expenses, police said.
The scam took a more complex turn recently, police said, when the man wired $53,000 to a company his “wife” had recommended to do renovations at his home, police said.
The company and the person he contacted turned out to be part of the fraud orchestrated by the woman, said police, who offered a slew of tips for people to steer clear of falling victim to similar scams. The tips include:
- The person you met online wants to know your personal details.
- Conversations get personal very quickly.
- You can’t find any trace of the other person anywhere online.
- They ask you for money, often needed for medical or emergency reasons.
- They ask you to keep your relationship secret.
- They avoid face-to-face contact.
- Their stories don’t add up.
Man charged after drunk driver drove to police station: Aylmer police
A 53-year-old is charged with impaired driving after Aylmer police say a drunk person drove himself to the police station to report an unrelated matter.
It was shortly before 2 p.m. on Aug. 9 when police say a man drove to the police station off Beech Street in Aylmer in his vehicle, police said.
While speaking to an officer at the station for an unrelated matter, the officer smelled alcohol on the man’s breath, police said. A test showed the man was impaired, police said, and he was charged.
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