Saskatoon woman says elderly father sent $500,000 to fraudsters in gold bar scam

Sheri Zwack had no idea that a visit with her aging father over coffee in March would turn into a months-long battle to keep him from losing his life’s savings.

“I feel he’s in a psychosis,” Zwack said of her 80-year-old father, who has fallen victim to an online investment scam, according to police.

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Zwack said she listened on March 30 as her dad told her he had met a woman from the Netherlands who claimed to have gold bars stored there. She asked him for help to bring them to Canada.

“He met her through Facebook Messenger, and my dad has never once verbally spoken to her,” Zwack said.

Zwack said she and her brother found out that their father had been speaking with this woman, who went by the name “Melissa” online, since October. She said father had got his first iPhone just a month earlier.

“I think I’ve always had a good, trusting relationship with my father,” Zwack shared. “I think he wanted me to know that this was his plan. He was going forward with it.”

Zwack said she was “shocked” when her father told her and her brother that the woman he had been speaking with was coming to live with him in Canada.

Instantly, Zwack said she knew what was happening. She reminded her father that he was still married to his wife, her mother, who lives at a Saskatoon care home and whose care is his responsibility.

“My dad said, ‘No, this is going to be my life… I’ve lived my life 30 years caregiving for your mother, and the next 10… I’m gonna go and have this woman stay. Your mom will never know.’”

“I think he got a bit lonely,” Zwack surmised, “and maybe that computer was the source of his companionship and friendship.”

Initially, her dad told them he had “invested” about $200,000, expecting millions of dollars in return for the gold bars he believed he was helping to ship. He called the money “guaranteed,” and sent various transfers and gift cards to “Melissa” and her friends.

A photo of the “Diplomaticaurum” website, featuring staff whose photos appear to be stock images and who all share the same name, Thomas White, with the same title of “warehouse officer.” (Sheri Zwack/Submitted)

Zwack estimated her father spent about $500,000 on what Saskatoon police have since confirmed was a scam. She said her dad has yet to receive any money back, and neither the gold bars nor “Melissa” ever arrived in Saskatoon.

“It’s heartbreaking, because my mom is vulnerable in this whole situation, and the fact that she had no awareness of what he was doing with her money, too,” Zwack shared, noting that as caretaker for her mother, her father was in control of both of their finances.

Zwack said she was able to get a $25,000 transaction reversed at a bank after she arrived alongside her dad, brother and a Saskatoon police cyber crimes officer, and she said she’s notified every financial institution in the city in an effort to stop her father from sending any more money to the scammers.

The situation has not been as simple as alerting banks, however. Zwack’s father, she explained, does not believe he was the victim of fraud. Even after police became involved, Zwack said her father has not faltered in his belief that his relationship with “Melissa” and the gold bars are real and are en route to Saskatoon.

“Even the help we’ve tried to give him, he just doesn’t want, so it’s sad,” Zwack said.

Zwack said Saskatoon police were able to establish that the website being used by the scammers had been created in Ghana in February. She said the officers explained to her that social messaging apps and AI are frequently used to groom victims by building a fake relationship and promising wealth, among other tactics.

Staff sergeant Matthew Bradford, of the Saskatoon Police Service, is the supervisor of the detective that led the investigation into Zwack’s father’s case. The case is not currently being investigated further, Bradford said, because Zwack’s father is unwilling to proceed.

With these types of scams, Bradford said victims often become convinced they are going to make big returns on what usually turn out to be fake investments. He cited cryptocurrencies, gold bars and fake websites as some of the tactics employed to entice victims to send money.

Matt Bradford, a staff sergeant with the Saskatoon Police Service’s economic crime section, at police headquarters on June 12, 2026. (Libby Gray/650 CKOM)

“The trick of the fraudster is to just keep you hopeful and engaged and continuing to provide funds, so that you think that you’re making big returns on investment, big dividends on an investment that doesn’t exist,” he said.

“They’re just basically taking your money and absconding with it.”

Bradford said this type of scam is very common, with police seeing similar cases at least a few times each month. Most of the bigger scams – which tend to be more sophisticated, Bradford said – are perpetrated from overseas, meaning the scammers are largely out of reach.

Investigations to determine whether a situation is fraudulent often involve searching photos and web domains to see whether a company or website is legitimate. To do so, Bradford recommended putting keywords like the name of a company, accompanied by the word “scam” into a search engine like Google.

Bradford said online chatter will often come up in the results, with others reporting fraud cases or red flags.

“They’re very well-versed in social engineering,” Bradford said of the fraudsters, adding that their victims are typically vulnerable in some way, regularly becoming convinced the situation will help them make money.

“The victim has to keep believing or finally admit that they were defrauded, and that’s very hard for some people,” Bradford shared.

“Most people don’t want to have their hopes dashed.”

A photo of “Melissa.” Sheri Zwack said her father has been messaging the woman since October, despite never actually speaking to her. (Sheri Zwack/Submitted)

Loneliness is another factor that can contribute to a person being victimized, Bradford explained.

Police often encounter situations like the one Zwack’s father is navigating, Bradford said, where a victim elects to not proceed further with an investigation.

“We do the best we can,” he said. “We can take steps to try to protect them, you know, kind of almost without their consent, but it’s a tough balancing act.”

Co-operation from a victim is required to establish fraud in court, Bradford explained. That requirement, coupled with the need for a victim to have autonomy and access to their own funds, can make these situations complicated. Sometimes, he said, action can be taken by forwarding an investigation on to a national or international level, but most victims of online investment scams will never see their money returned.

Saskatoon police were able to have the fake website created in Ghana taken down, in this case, and worked with Zwack and her family to try and protect their loved one as much as possible.

Sheri Zwack in her home in Saskatoon, along with her dogs, Fin and Ivan. (Libby Gray/650 CKOM)

“It’s so disheartening,” Zwack said, advising others to talk openly with their aging relatives about the potential for online fraud and scams.

Currently, Zwack said she’s pursuing every option to prevent her father from losing more money, which range from medical evaluations to gaining some control over her parents’ finances in order to be able to continue to pay for her mother’s care. The Government of Saskatchewan’s Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee office has also become involved, she added.

Those actions, however, have led to negative behaviour from Zwack’s father. She said she’s been told that he’s become “verbally aggressive” to staff at banks when they won’t allow him to withdraw large amounts. Zwack said she also experienced hostility when her father showed up on her street, calling her rude names and demanding access to his finances.

Though Zwack said her dad has always been stubborn and a bit impulsive, she said she’s been shocked over how he much has changed over the past few months.

“I don’t know the person I once knew,” she said.

Zwack said she fears her father will have to soon declare bankruptcy, and worries about what will happen if he does realize “Melissa” and his money are nowhere to be found.

“It’s crazy the amount of control they have over him,” she shared.

For now, Zwack said her primary concern is ensuring her mother is still looked after. As upset and worried as she is, Zwack said she’s also angry with her father.

“It’s draining, like you’re watching the demise of your family, and your parents are in a vulnerable state and no one’s helping,” she said.

“It’s such a loss.”