Barbara Grant was one of many Canadians who found themsleves lonely during the pandemic.
For the first time in her life, she set out to find a connection on an online dating site.
That’s when she met Michael Janda.
“We started talking… he said, ‘You are gorgeous, I want to be with you,'” Grant said.
The two quickly formed a bond. Janda’s profile said he worked in the same oil and gas industry where she had built a successful career.
As the weeks went by, they spoke about plans of marriage and buying a home together in Victoria, B.C.
Then came the requests that preyed on her emotions.
“He told me he was caught in Doha, Qatar, carrying $1.5 million in cash,” she said, “And police put him in jail.”
The two continued to communicate on LinkedIn after moving away from the dating site where they first connected.
Over a period of nearly a year, Grant sent Janda money in several bank transfers — first to a trucking company in Ontario, then an individual in the U.S.
Then one day in November, Grant realized her mistake — Janda wasn’t who he said he was.
“He contacted me through LinkedIn and said, ‘I can’t come to Calgary any more, they’ve locked me up again.’ He was coming to the airport and I was going to pick him up.
“I then realized it was a scam.”
Grant lost $800,000 CAD — her life’s savings.
“I have nothing left, except what’s in my (Registered Retirement Income Fund). I’m devastated by it… absolutely devastated.”
Falling into a deep depression, Grant was checked into a mental health unit on multiple occasions in Calgary. She contemplated ending her own life.
Then she took action, hiring a B.C.-based private investigator to look into her case. Six months later, Denis Gagnon had compiled a 400-page report.
“It’s basically a daily event,” Gagnon said, explaining his work.
“It’s an epidemic.”
Gangon was able to trace the transfers Grant sent. He says those recipients are commonly referred to as “mules.”
“The money that’s being transferred goes through a mule and goes to a different account. That person takes a percentage and then sends it overseas.”
But who was ultimately behind it all is still a mystery.
The lengthy report was then forwarded on to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, which earlier this week ruled in favour of Grant’s bank, TD.
“I want TD Canada Trust to know about what happened to me… it has ruined my life,” Grant said.
“The bank is not responsible, not accountable… they have a fiduciary responsibility to me to give me some of my money back.”
In 2024, TD faced fines on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border — first in May, when Fintrac fined the bank $9.2 million for a range of failures including not submitting suspicious transaction reports when there was reasonable grounds to require it to do so, not assessing and documenting money laundering/terrorist activity financing risks and for the bank not taking prescribed special measures for high risk.
CIBC and RBC were also fined similar amounts.
But that number was then dwarfed months later in the United States, when TD became the largest bank in U.S. history to plead guilty to violating a federal law aimed at preventing money laundering, and agreed to pay over $3 billion in penalties to resolve the charges.
In that case, TD said its program was “insufficient to effectively monitor, detect, report, and respond to suspicious activity” and work is underway to remedy the deficiencies.
Global News asked TD officials for a statement on improvements to that program and further protections for its clients, but did not hear back by deadline.
Grant says she’s looking into a debt consolidation loan in order to wipe her hands clean from a years-long ordeal that has altered her world.
But she also wants her story to serve as a warning to others — if it can happen to this savvy, successful 75-year-old, it can happen to anyone.
“People are ashamed to talk about it… I’m not.”
“When someone comes forward and is willing to talk about what happened, we really should be commending them,” explained Wes Lafortune of the Better Business Bureau of Alberta.
Lafortune estimates only five per cent of these type of crimes are ultimately reported and awareness can make a huge difference.
“It’s really important to report these crimes to police, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Better Business Bureau… so these organizations can determine what sort of resources can be put into this.”
Gagnon says it will take much more than status quo to turn the tide on this situation.
“I think Canada has become a bit of a target for fraudsters. In the United States, I believe the penalties are much more severe. Canada is (still working through that),” Gagnon explained.
“Most people don’t break into a house now through the door. They come in through your phone — or the screen you’re looking at.”
Grant was ready to spend her golden years travelling, downsizing her home and spending time with her children. Now at 75, she says she’ll likely return to work as a consultant in the fall.
She also sells her own paintings and dances. She’s quite the catch — but you won’t find her on any dating sites.
“No. No. I have some good friends, that’s it, that’s all,” she said.
“I really don’t trust a lot of people anymore.”