Judy Skinny, who lost $900,000 in a fake scam on a cryptocurrency platform
An 86-year-old Ontario woman 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 Skeen, of Sault Ste. Mary says she first came across the fraud scheme in 2025 while surfing Facebook. I watched a video of Carney promoting a cryptocurrency investment platform that promised extraordinarily high and legitimate returns through the backing of the Bank of Canada.“I saw an ad on Facebook by Mark Carney telling me that if I invested C$350, it would be backed by the Bank of Canada,” Skeen said.After Skinny trusted the message, he clicked on the link, registered and made an initial payment.
Shortly after, she received a phone call from someone claiming that the value of her investment had already tripled. I continued investing over the following months.She gradually began investing her life savings. Skinny even took difficult financial steps to continue investing.“So I agreed to put a $300,000 mortgage on my condominium,” Skeen told CTV News.On the fake platform, her account showed strong growth, with her funds nearly doubling.
In fact, there was no real investment, and she was scammed.By the time the scheme was over, Skinny had lost more than $900,000. She said that communication suddenly stopped once the final payment was made.“Once I made the final payment, there was no more conversation and all my money was gone,” Skinny said.The effect was severe. A family friend, Pat Probert, stepped in to support her. He said the situation became so distressing that Skinny contemplated suicide.“Her apartment fees were increasing, her apartment and car insurance payments were increasing,” Probert said.Since then, Probert has raised concerns about online scams and urged people to check on their vulnerable relatives, especially older people who live alone.“If you know a senior who is alone, reach out to them and make sure they have someone on their bank account as an 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 Rajans, an artificial intelligence expert and media consultant at Think Start Inc., said responsibility should also fall on social media companies that host such fraudulent ads.“These scams exist on all kinds of different platforms,” Rajhans said.As Skinny tries to recover from the devastating loss, she spoke out to warn others against online scams.“Just be vigilant and be careful what you see on Facebook,” Skeen said.Probert 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 had no children or relatives and was an only child,” Probert said.“Judy wasn’t doing it out of greed, she was doing it to help others, and now she’s the one who needs help.”
