The dating sites were meant to facilitate the meeting of the soul mate, but they can also screw up the lives of the lonely people.
Loss of money or self-esteem, loss of confidence, but also suicidal ideation, these are the serious consequences of bad meetings made on the internet.
This week, the show JE went to meet women, victims of talkers on sites like Badoo, Tinder or Jasez.ca.
"The shame led my mother to tell us that she would want to commit suicide if the people around her knew what she went through."
The one who speaks this way is Johanne (fictitious name), whose mother has succumbed to an African "charmer", perhaps even to a network of fraudsters. The elderly lady has transferred more than $ 47,000 to her fraudster.
Jacynthe, another victim, experienced two mishaps on dating sites. She is still single. And despite these unfortunate experiences, she says she could fall a third time into the net of a hustler. "You're being cheated, it's frustrating and as if it's not enough, you're pointing fingers."
Caution
Vigilance and discretion, that should guide people who use sites like Badoo, Tinder or Jazez.ca to meet people.
"We can cross data together. I have your last name, I have a photo of you, I just have to go on Facebook to find information that you have not put on Tinder, "says Mathieu Roy, techno columnist, who calls to prudence.
"A platform like Facebook is a gold mine. I know where you work, where you went to school, on vacation, maybe even the names of some of your family members. It's easy to get a ton of sensitive info, "he says.
To protect yourself from fraudsters, no magic stuff. We must review its security settings and be responsible for what we share on the web.
Twenty victims
Cécile Lefebvre is an investigator at the Longueuil agglomeration police department. She quotes the case of Marc Soulières who made twenty victims alone.
And he defrauded them for more than $ 10,000. Soulières ended up pleading guilty to the Longueuil courthouse last month. He must receive his sentence this spring.
To exonerate himself, Marc Soulières told the judge that he had problems with alcohol, drugs and gambling and that he was spending more than $ 3,000 a month.
He added that he was remorseful: not for his victims, but for his family, especially his father and mother, where he lived.