Feelings fraud represents several million dollars in Canada.Investigation exhibits the descent into hell who awaits the victims of this crime, reveals the limits of police work before this phenomenon and describes the functioning of a network of well -established scammers in Quebec.

I lost my mother even if she is still alive.Chantal and Sylvain describe in the same way the brain washing that their mothers have suffered, respectively aged 70 and 75 years.Love fraudsters have stolen much more than their money.Previously, magnetic grandmothers and financially independent women, Diane*, Chantal's mother, found herself in homelessness..While Gisèle, Sylvain's mother, was found in a diabetic coma because she had no more money to pay for food and medication.Diane and Gisèle cut the bridges with some of their loved ones.

In Canada in 2020, just over 600 victims of love scams filed a complaint for an amount of $ 18 million.This fraud is, among all scams, the most important with regard to the lost sums.In addition, it is estimated that 90 % of victims do not report the scam.Some because they are ashamed, others because they do not consider themselves victims, believing to live a true love.

The accounts of the victims and their loved ones demonstrate that love fraud, much worse than an economic crime, is a violent crime that has serious consequences.In Quebec, our research in Coroner Bureau reports can link six suicides to this fraud in recent years.

The order of psychologists and the order of social workers participated in our journalistic approach by conducting a survey with their members, the results demonstrate that this is a more widespread problem than you might think.

D’Abidjan à Québec, nous nous sommes plongés dans une rare enquête policière qui a permis en 2020, grâce auprojet Pourriel de la Sûreté du Québec, l’arrestation de suspects.

Survey also explored the role of dating, facebook, financial institutions and companies that transfer money abroad.Follow us in our investigation into a still taboo crime, a pain in our time.

*Fictive name.