Alberta woman fights for justice after late mom is conned in romance scam

globalnews.ca:

romance scam, including a man claiming to be a U.S. sergeant, who contacted her mom online.Throughout two-and-a-half years, the man allegedly told Jarmila Westguard he loved her.He also said if she helped him “escape” — they could be together.That’s when she said, the asks for money started pouring in.“My mom was the type of woman that if you were good to her — she opened up her heart,” Westguard said.“This person convinced her to sell her home. She then started wire transferring him significant amounts of money.

My mom was giving everything to this person.”The 74-year-old even tried to send an envelope with $36,000 in cash across the border.The payment was stopped, and she was fined. Police were called in, the banks were notified and many cut her off and the family even had her institutionalized.But Jarmila Westguard continued to send money to the scammers, going without food and medicine. She ended up homeless and hospitalized and eventually on Oct.

14, she died — just days before she was set to leave Ontario and join her daughter in Canmore.“She starved herself, ” her daughter said. “My mom didn’t even look like my mother when she passed away.“My mom was a beautiful woman and when she passed away, she looked like she was 100 years old.”Chantel Westguard told Global News this tragedy has broken her — but it also gave her the strength to fight back.Westguard attempted to “scam the scammers,” pretending to be her mom following her death. She sent texts to the fraudster, promising more money.