Toronto fraud victim recovers most of $355K lost in international romance scam: police

The victim of a "romance cryptocurrency fraud," who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, has had most of their money returned following a three-year international investigation, Toronto police say.

In the fall of 2021, police received a fraud complaint from a Toronto resident who claimed they'd been scammed out of $355,000, Toronto police said in a release Monday. This month, the victim was able to recuperate $225,000 as the result of a multi-unit investigation, police said.

The fraud dates back to June 2021, police say, when it is alleged the victim began communicating on Facebook with a man named "Moshe Theodor McNigh."

As the online friendship grew, the suspect allegedly encouraged the victim to invest in cryptocurrency through the website Legacyfxtraders.online.

In the fall of 2021, police say Nigerian law enforcement officials contacted the victim and told them they had been defrauded in a cryptocurrency investment scheme. Police say Nigerian law enforcement had arrested a man in connection with the crime. 

The accused's fraudulent proceeds were seized, police say, and some of the money was determined to belong to the Toronto victim. The Nigerian courts later ordered the proceeds to be returned to the victim, police say.

Police say the recovery was the result of a three-year investigation that involved multiple units from Toronto police, Ontario Provincial Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre estimates that in 2023, more than 50 per cent of the $309 million in reported investment fraud losses were tied to cryptocurrency investment schemes. The centre estimates only five to 10 per cent of victims report instances of fraud.