My father in law just paid out $6500 and is going further

As stated he is getting in deeper and here's how its happening. My wife was recently informed by her father that his friend in Canada was at a Christian singles meeting and met a woman. Of course they hit it off and she told him her sad story about how she has millions of dollars (a trunk full of money!) that she cannot access unless she marries. Him being a lonely elderly man (and apparently low on cash as well), calls my FIL and tells him her predicament and that the woman needs $6500 (that he doesn't have) and that he'll get 250k back if HE can help her.
So despite warnings from his wife and daughter he sends the money anyway. Now he is planning a trip to Canada to meet her and pick up his share!! He thinks that we're being dumb for poo pooing this and is about to make a bigger mistake with money that he doesn't have. He won't listen to reason and being elderly and not an internet user is totally unaware of the scam. What's he thinking??? Please advise

[AlanJones]

Hi, this is definitely a scam, but is a strange one - this friend in Canada, is he someone your Father-in-Law actually knows in person? You say FiL is not an Internet user, so does that mean he doesn't use the Internet at all or is it possible that he has met the person in Canada on the Internet?

@Hefellforit!

I am willing to talk with you and you FIL about the situation.

I have also sent you a PM.

Thanks guys! The man in Canada is an old friend of his who's being played by this women he met at the meeting. No internet involved in this one though. I bet that if he did want to correspond with her via the internet that she'd be all for it. Not sure if his friend is an internet user though. I'll reply to your IM asap

Not to be argumentative--but are you sure there is no internet involved?

Of course there are scammers running these formats in Canada, but it is rare that they will run that particular format face to face.

On the other hand, I have lost track of how many times I have encountered a victim who claimed to have met their "love" in person, when in reality the "relationship" was entirely online. The victims have lied because people around them are questioning the relationship, and they know that if they admit to not having met them in person, it will not look good and will lead to people further dismissing their claims that the story is real. I recently dealt with a mule who actually lied to the police about meeting her scammer in person, admitting to trying to bank fake checks provided by the scammer, but still claiming he was an ex-boyfriend she had dated numerous times, when I knew with 100% certainty that he was in and had never left Ghana. She put herself at risk of criminal charges for her lies, because just couldn't admit she was taken by someone she had never even met.

Obviously you know the people involved better--but realize that many victims of these scams are so dependent on the imaginary relationship that they will not hesitate to lie if that is what it takes to preserve the fantasy, so unless you have objective evidence or 100% confidence that you know the person well enough to believe the "how they met" story, assume thee is a very real risk that he is lying..

We are getting our information from the FIL who is getting it from the friend so it may be that they met online and then in person. He specifically said that they were at a Christian singles meeting when they met face to face though. It sounds just like the typical online scam to me too. The FIL is planning to go to Toronto so there must be encouragement for him to meet face to face at this point. Ok some new info just now.
You all are going to probably be shaking your heads but here goes.... She is from South Africa, they met in person in Washington state (supposedly) at the group meeting and she's in a wheel chair. The trunk full of money is in Toronto with another guy named "Paul". The two old men were supposed to go and meet with him to get the trunk but my soon to be FIL is on dialysis and so stayed here. Bob who's the mark, flew to Toronto last night and ckd into a motel. Nobody has heard from him yet and no answer on his cell. The motel has confirmed that he did check in though. True story, happening right now. Wow!

[AlanJones]

Scammers do meet victims face to face, there are numerous occurrences of "diplomats" travelling to various US and European cities to meet victims.

As to what will happen next, my guess is that this may be a black money or "wash wash" scam - the victim will be shown a trunk of "money" that has been dyed black (for security purposes) and one of the "notes" will be cleaned with a chemical and the victim will be encouraged to to buy the chemicals to clean the remainder of the notes when he gets them safely over the border - it is all slight of hand, 1 real $100 bill that will be cleaned and a trunk full of blank paper.

I would recommend contacting the RCMP and advising them of what Bob is doing and where he is staying. It could save him a lot of money and also possibly his life.

Bob called. They are wanting to come and meet him at his motel room and bringing "the trunk of money" with them. Bob hasn't agreed yet and is finally getting nervous. We asked MIL to call the PD and Bob back.

No word on the situation since this morning but I'll continue to post updates. Thanks for the support folks

Well here's how it went. Bob met with the guy or guys (women in wheelchair had to return to S. Africa) in Toronto somewhere other than at his motel. He was finally suspicious after getting warned through the grapevine and maybe because some of his own reasoning finally kicked in. It turns out that he had not given them my FIL's $6500 yet. They did bring a trunk with them though! They wanted him to deposit the money or give it to them before opening it but he actually refused. Since they originally said they couldn't even get the trunk without paying a fee, Bob knew it was a trick. So then he finally went to the police and being an artist, provided them with a sketch of them. This is all third hand info but the general idea. Hope it helps somebody somehow. Thanks folks