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It started with a seemingly innocent interaction on Facebook.
A man replied to Kentville, N.S., resident Lynn MacLeod’s comment on a post about the Confederation Bridge.
Her late husband was an engineer from P.E.I. who helped build the bridge that links the Island with New Brunswick. MacLeod, 74, wrote about how proud her husband was to be part of constructing Canada’s longest bridge.
The man found this interesting because he claimed he was also an engineer and wanted to know more about how the bridge was built, she said.
He would eventually send MacLeod a friend request on Facebook and before she knew it, they were talking several times a week. MacLeod was happy for the companionship.
At some point, the man mentioned he worked for a well-known oil company. He suggested now that MacLeod was on her own, she could be better off financially if she invested in the company.
Lynn MacLeod said the relationship she developed with the man who contacted her on Facebook felt like ‘two really good friends.’ (Grey Butler/CBC)
Over several months last year, she invested more than $130,000 via e-transfers to what she thought was a legitimate email. Her family confronted her last Christmas to tell her, in fact, she was getting scammed.
“I was shocked, really shocked, because I thought I was smarter than that,” she told CBC News.
MacLeod is one of tens of thousands of Canadians who are victims of scams every year, many of them seniors, and she believes banks should do more to protect customers like her from scams that involve significant amounts of money being transferred out of accounts.
With her bank account now empty, MacLeod’s church is paying her rent and her family is helping cover basic costs.
She knows she was targeted by experienced criminals, but still blames herself for losing her life-savings.
“I didn’t want to live. I didn’t care, you know, I raised my kids. They didn’t need me. That was the way my mind was. I mean, I wasn’t suicidal, but I was dead. I was just depleted,” MacLeod said.
Canadians lost $63M in relationship scams last year
Relationship and romance scams where a fraudster gains a victim’s trust and affection have been detrimental to Canadians for many years, but they’ve become easier to pull off as more people are online, said a spokesperson with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
“Social media has increased that volume substantially. We saw, for example, in 2025, $63 million was lost to romance frauds alone,” said Jeff Horncastle.
Janette Hughes, a Canadian Research Chair in technology and pedagogy, works with seniors to educate them about online safety.
Education is essential to protecting them from scams, Hughes said.
“Older adults are the most targeted group, partly because they have savings and also because, and I don’t want to generalize, but they’re not always as tech savvy,” she said.
MacLeod said she’s incredibly embarrassed she lost her life-savings, but if speaking out about it prevents someone else from being scammed it’ll be worth it.
Bank should have done more, MacLeod says
MacLeod believes her financial institution, Royal Bank of Canada, could have done more to protect her.
When she was with a different bank, she said someone contacted her after flagging an e-transfer she sent to a new email address they didn’t recognize.
She said her bank should have noticed tens of thousands of dollars being moved out of her account.
MacLeod said her church is covering the cost of her rent after she lost her life-savings. She said she’s only getting by because of her family, friends and faith. (Grey Butler/CBC)
Royal Bank eventually told MacLeod her money was sent to scammers — but only after she reported the fraud to the bank and the police. The bank refunded her approximately one-third of what she lost, she said, but she thinks she should get all of it back.
“The bank is supposed to protect our business,” MacLeod said.
Royal Bank of Canada declined an interview request, but a spokesperson said they want to remind customers to never send money to someone you haven’t met in person.
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