The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor An elderly woman in Flin Flon has fallen victim to scammers who use Facebook and phone calls to extract money from her, according to the woman's worried daughter. Hellain Haas said her 69-year-old mother, who has mild dementia and lives on a fixed income, has been tracked down via her Facebook page by a man who tells her he loves her and asks her to send money. Haas, who lives in Saskatoon, said her mother has sent at least $1,000 to an address in Nigeria and now does not have enough money left to cover her own expenses. 'We know for sure that she's handed off a thousand dollars, and that was at the beginning of December,' Haas told CBC News. 'Limited income' 'She's on a limited income, and her income doesn't accommodate for that type of money.' Haas said she and other family members have warned her mother that the man is just after her money. 'She will just look and [say], 'No, he loves me É he's not like that'É,' Haas said. CBC News phoned the man last Wednesday, and he denied ever asking Haas's mother for money. The man, who goes by the name 'John Williams' and claims to live in Abuja, Nigeria, said he is just Facebook friends with the elderly woman. 'I didn't ask her for any money,' he said. 'She is just my friend.' Flin Flon RCMP are investigating the alleged Facebook scam, which they say is a first for them. Officers called CBC News to request the man's phone number Ñ a move that perplexed Haas, who said she had already given them that information. 'I had already faxed É a copy to a constable there, right in the beginning of December, and I wouldn't understand why they wouldn't have it,' she said. The RCMP said they are making the case a top priority. 'It sickens me because these people are obviously not caring about the life of the person that they're stealing from,' Haas said of the alleged scammers. 'My mother needs money for medication, money for food, she needs money for rent. And she doesn't have any of those things.' _ Reprinted with permission from CBC
