Judy Skene who lost $900,000 in a fake crypto platform scam
An 86-year-old Ontario woman has lost more than $900,000 after falling victim to a cryptocurrency scam that used a deepfake video of Prime Minister Mark Carney to lure investors online.Judy Skene, from Sault Ste. Marie, says she first came across the fraud scheme in 2025 while browsing Facebook. She saw a video of Carney promoting a crypto investment platform that promised unusually high returns and legitimacy through backing from the Bank of Canada.“I saw an ad on Facebook of Mark Carney telling me if I invested $350 Canadian, it would be backed by the Bank of Canada,” Skene said.Trusting the message, Skene clicked the link, signed up and made an initial payment. Soon after, she received a call from someone claiming her investment had already tripled in value. She continued investing over the following months.She gradually started investing her whole life savings. Skene even took difficult financial steps to keep investing.“So I agreed to put a mortgage of $300,000 on my condominium,” Skene told CTV News.On the fake platform, her account showed strong growth, with her funds almost doubling. In reality, there was no real investment, and she was being fooled.By the time the scheme ended, Skene had lost more than $900,000. She said the contact stopped abruptly once the final payment was made.“Once I did the final payment, there was no more conversation and all my money was gone,” said Skene.The impact has been severe. A family friend, Pat Probert, stepped in to support her. He said the situation became so distressing that Skene even considered taking her own life.“Her condo fees were bouncing, the insurance payments on her condo and her car were bouncing,” Probert said.Probert has since raised concerns about online frauds and urged people to check in on vulnerable relatives, especially seniors living alone.“If you know a senior that’s alone, reach out to them make sure someone is on a bank account as their emergency contact,” Probert said.Such scams are becoming increasingly difficult to detect due to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to create realistic deepfake videos featuring public figures, including politicians such as Carney and former prime minister Justin Trudeau.Mohit Rajhans, an AI expert and media consultant at Think Start Inc., said the responsibility should also lie with social media companies that host such fraudulent advertisements.“These scams are on every different type of platform,” said Rajhans.As Skene tries to recover from the devastating loss, she has spoken out to warn others about online fraud.“Just be alert and be careful with what you see on Facebook,” Skene said.Probert has also launched a GoFundMe campaign to help her manage living expenses, noting that she had previously intended to leave her money to charity as she has no immediate family.“Judy wanted to leave money to different charities, as she has no kids or relatives and was an only child,” said Probert.“Judy was not doing this for greed; she was doing it to help others now she is the one needing help.”
