Delta woman loses $12,000 in dating app scam: police

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DELTA (NEWS 1130) — A Delta woman is out about $12,000 after apparently being scammed by someone she met through a dating app.

Kris Leykauf, spokesperson for the Delta Police Department, says the woman had been speaking to a man online for about six weeks. During this time, he had offered her “investment advice” and told her to buy cryptocurrency from one app, then stock options from another app.

“I believe she came into a bit of a realization about what had occurred, and then confronted the man who was scamming her,” Leykauf says.

She explains the man essentially told the woman, “You shouldn’t trust people you meet online,” before deleting his profile.

Leykauf says the thousands of dollars the woman invested, is likely gone forever.

“Unfortunately, the odds aren’t very good on this kind of stuff. Particularly when money’s being transferred online, it’s very difficult for police to do that.”

Leykauf says being told to buy something like Bitcoin should serve as a big red flag, and notes these kinds of transactions are essentially untraceable.

“I feel really badly because it’s really hard for someone to regain money they’ve lost through these kinds of methods. So, really, education is our best defence in terms of trying to help the community.”

Leykauf advises people to always be cautious about who they meet online.

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