Montreal-area woman speaks out after losing more than $100K to online scam

It all started when Imani-Thena Kinzanza's mother sent her a link to what they thought was a legitimate news article.

"I was skeptical at first," said the 33-year-old single mother of two from Laval, Que.

"But I saw CBC/Radio-Canada written on top of it and the picture of Justin Trudeau."

The article told of how Canada's prime minister was supposedly making money through investments. At the bottom of the article was a registration link, taking to her another page to sign up.

So, Kinzanza decided to give it a try.

She filled out a form, got a phone call and found herself on the linewith a sweet talker who identified himself as Ron Wagner from a company called Profitrop.

Kinzanza started small, just a few hundred dollars. Then, the computer software that Wagner and his team provided showed that her investment was paying off.

"It was going up, and up, and up," she said. "I was like, 'This is working. This is really working.'"

From supposed profits, to losing it all

She asked Wagner if she could withdraw some of that money, and after jumping through a few hoops, $10 showed up in her bank account.

She told Wagner that she didn't want to invest more. She and her mother set a limit of $250 US.

So the company supposedly gave her $5,000 US in credit, and she watched as her profits soared, and then plummeted.

Meanwhile, Wagner was expressing more than just a financial interest in Kinzanza. He told her he was "putting his heart" into her file, and she felt a romantic relationship was blossoming.

"We really developed something. We were always speaking on the phone," she said.

She was pressured to invest more so as to not lose more, but to move forward, she had to pay back that $5,000 US credit first.

She found herself on the phone with another charmer who vowed to help her because of her relationship with Wagner.

It went on and on from March through May of this year. She handed over tens of thousands of dollars, a combination of her savings and loans, as shown in bank statements seen by CBC News.

Every time she sent money, representatives always had a new excuse for her to send more, be it taxes or bank transfers that supposedly failed.

She tried to walk away. Her bank wouldn't reimburse her. Her finances were in ruins. Weeks went by.

Then she ended up on the phone with someone new an unknown caller who asked for someone else. That supposed wrong number turned into a long conversation.

She told her story, and the caller offered to help.

More than $100K in debt

Desperate enough to trust the new caller, Kinzanza ended up sending money to a company called LTG GoldRock with hopes she'd pay off her loans. But she lost it all.

"I went from no debt, to more than $100,000," she said, realizing in hindsight that both companies were likely part of the same scam.

Now she is speaking out, trying to alert others about suchonline scams.

"It is never the victim's fault. These scammers are professionals," said Akim Laniel-Lanani, co-founder of Clinique de Cyber-Criminologie, a Montreal non-profit organization that provides support services to cybercrime victims.

He said these types of fraudsters are expert manipulators, and know what they are doing.

"They'll use fear. They'll use your ambition against you and your desire to make money and add on top of that a sense of urgency," he said. "And you lose everything."

Avoid recovery scams, Anti-Fraud Centre warns

Searching LTG GoldRock online turns up plenty of victim stories. And a quick search of Profitrop reveals suspicious Google ads promising to recover funds lost to the Profitrop scam.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre warns people should avoid investment recovery scams, where previous victims are being targeted with the promise of returning their lost money, like Kinzanza was.

The centre says there were over 21,000 victims of fraud in Canada in the first half of 2023.

WATCH | How scammers are faking CBC News stories for profit:

Anyone can be deep-faked in a scam ad. Even Ian Hanomansing

1 year ago

Duration 4:26

Scammers are turning to deep fakes of trusted public figures to take your money through bogus online ads. The Nationals Ian Hanomansing is among them. He found out what the law says and what social media companies are doing about it.

CBC News says in a statement that it is aware of an increase of false ads and news stories claiming to be from, or endorsed by CBC or CBC employees appearing on social media platforms and websites, including CBC websites and apps.

"We are working to curb this alarming trend and to remove any false or inappropriate posts from CBC platforms, as well as other social spaces. And you can help us too," the statement says.

To find out more about how to report inappropriate CBC-related ads on one of CBC's platforms, or any suspicious ads on CBC platforms, click here.