(HURON COUNTY, ON) – The Huron Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is investigating a recent romance fraud in Huron County. A Bluewater resident has lost over $60,000 to the scam. This latest incident involved an online dating app with an unknown person claiming to have financial problems, needing assistance. The fraudster convinced the 58-year-old victim to send multiple monetary amounts via e-transfers and Bitcoin ATM machine deposits over a three month period.
From August 30th to December 29th, 2025, Huron OPP received eleven reports of significant fraud all over Huron County. In nine of these cases, victims believed that their money was being invested in the stock market and in cryptocurrency. Two victims fell for romance-style scams.
In the first nine months of 2025, nationwide, there have been over 23,000 fraud victims that have reported their losses to the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre. These losses total over $544 million.
In 2024, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), fraud reports totalled a staggering $647 million in Canadian victim losses.
NOTE: It is estimated that only 5-10% of victims report scams and frauds to the CAFC or law enforcement.
How to protect yourself?
- Don’t give out your personal information (name, address, DOB, SIN, banking credentials).
- Don’t accept friend requests from people you do not know.
- Don’t invest your money in platforms provided by people you don’t know.
- Be careful who you share images with. Suspects will often use explicit pictures to extort victims into sending more money.
- Protect your online accounts.
- Get more than one quote for home repair work and never feel pressured.
- Never send money to someone you haven’t met.
- Don’t respond to text messages from phone numbers you do not recognize.
- Learn more tips and tricks for protecting yourself.
If you fall victim to a fraud or know someone who has, contact your local police service to report the crime and report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at 1-888-495-8501 or online on the Fraud Reporting System (FRS), or antifraudcentre.ca even if a financial loss did not occur.