Stop the March Madness

Sharing this as it has a lot of great info and people should be aware of this other despicable person

https://stopthemarchmadness.com/

WES DEVRIES WANTED ON CANADA WIDE WARRANT

http://www.victoriacrimestoppers.com/wanteds.aspx

Please contact the police if you see or know the whereabouts of Wes Devries.  He has many ties to Vancouver and the lower mainland.

In the paper again...

 http://www.theprovince.com/news/Online+date+scammer+Wesley+Devries+sues+federal+government+over/10827904/story.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/criminals-wesley-devries-yong-long-ye-sue-over-lack-of-prison-programs-1.2963684

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Exclusive+Interview+Fraudster+Devries+found+easy+scam+women+online/8979526/story.html


I thought that I would at least have until July to pretend that Wes Devries didn't exist anymore but here he is popping up in the news again.  I am not sure whether the lawsuit will result in changes made to the system but I can't imagine Wes suing the government if it didn't involve financial gain for himself.  And maybe he should just use some of the money he scammed from people to buy himself some therapy sessions if he is interested in trying to become a better person.  By his own admission to one of his victims he was proud that he has scammed over 1.3 million over the years.  By my calculations he scammed over $40,000 just from April to August of 2013.  And that is calculated just using the numbers from the people who were brave enough to come forward and press charges against him.

I wish there was a rehabilitation program for socioopaths but unfortunately there is no way to 'fix' that type of individual.  And I don't think that means that we should ever give up on anyone but Wes has never seemed truly interested in becoming a better person according to anyone I have talked to that has known him.  He is about the game.  He has had plenty of opportunities to become a productive member of society and has never chosen to do so.  One would hope that with children in the world that would be the ideal time to turn your life around and set a positive example for them but even that didn't make him change anything about his lieng, scamming ways.  He said he didn't bother to apply for parole because he wasn't able to get into a program and thus show that he was interested in reforming himself. I believe that his motive for waiving his parole application was that he didn't want to be so closely monitored when he was out of prison.  If he serves his full term until July 2015 he will be under less strict restrictions.  Also, I think that he is hoping that people will forget about him by then and he can run whatever his new scam will be.  It is way more interesting to him to try out new scams than to live a simple life of finding a regular job and living a regular life.

 In my opinion the problem with our justice system is not that people like Wes don't get access to programs in prison in time for their release, but rather that people like Wes are not spending enough time in prison for their crimes.  Even for this last conviction, he had 14 charges against him and if his sentence wasn't made concurrent it would have added up to a 37 year sentence and he would have spent about 12 in prison.  That would be plenty of time for him to receive proper programs and therapy.

I hope that the courts don't see any merit in this particular case because I am sure it is just another scam by Hurricane Wes.  I do think that there needs to be fair access to rehabilitation programs in prison but more important reform should be done on sentencing first.

Feel free to email me at wesscammedmetoo@hotmail.com if you have questions or comments about Wes.

Seeing Wes Devries in court today...

I had never been to court before.  I wasn't sure what to expect and I definitely was feeling uneasy about seeing Wes and how that would leave me feeling.  Almost an hour after he was scheduled to appear the big TV screen in the courtroom turned on and there was Wes, in an orange jumpsuit and his thick rimmed hipster glasses.  He sat there quietly surrounded by a grey cement background.  I had mentally prepared myself to look him in the eyes but was relieved that he was appearing via video.  I wasn't sure what he could see of the courtroom but if he could see the last row of the otherwise empty courtroom he would've seen the reporter from the Province and me. I was sitting there with a slight smirk on my face writing every detail of what was being said between the prosecutor and his lawyer.  There was not much information shared about charges and the matter was put over until Tuesday of next week.  After court, Dan and I went upstairs to the registry and got the information for the upcoming charges - 14 in all.  And I know of at least 6 others that could've been included in this set of charges but for one reason or another weren't.  Some people admitted to being scammed by Wes Devries but didn't want to report it to the police for their own individual reasons - either too embarrassed or just wanting to leave it behind them.  I completely understand that and there is definitely a part of me that wanted to crawl under a rock and hide from all of this.  But I am just not the type of person that could let this go.  Good or bad - I am 'all-in'.

Seeing Wes was oddly therapeutic for me.  I had been nervous and on edge but seeing him confined to the small space of the correction centre's video room made me feel empowered.  I helped put him there.  No designer clothes.  No stupid hats.  No gourmet meals or expensive nights out on the town using money he had scammed from people.  But the best part for me is knowing that he won't be able to get the 'rush' he says he gets from scamming while he is there. And even if it is just for a short period of time, he is off the street and unable to victimize any more people for awhile.  I think that Wes being behind bars is the only way to stop him from scamming people.  He has been to jail before for very similar crimes and has almost always gone right back to scamming as soon as he is out of jail.  Obviously the punishments that he receives for his wrongs are not enough to deter him from doing wrong again.  When he gets out this time (hopefully years from now) he will probably just change his name slightly so people can't find out what type of person he is right away and then continue his usual pattern of deceiving people for his own selfish gain.

On a positive note, I have met some very inspiring and amazing people on this journey.   Ladies - your courage in coming forward and sharing your stories with me (and the police) has provided me with the strength to continue moving ahead with it all.  You have been my support system and I never feel judged by any of you because I know that you understand how Wes uses his charms to manipulate people.  We will all be smarter and stronger women because of this experience and you have each added to my life in your own unique way.  And to the men who have come forward - I commend you.  I realize that as hard as it is for a woman to admit that she has been scammed, it is doubly hard for a man to admit that.  I know that there are many more men out there that Wes has scammed who haven't come forward and I would encourage them to rethink that.  It is super important that people are made aware of the full scope of how many different ways Wes has to scam people.  Anyone out there that has been scammed by Wes or knows someone that has been scammed by him I would still love to hear from you.

A special thank-you to Dan Fumano of The Province newspaper - without you and your coverage of this I don't think any of this would have moved forward the way it has.  You have been absolutely amazing and your continued interest and pursuit of this story has helped make people aware of Wes Devries.  Together we have all put a huge dent in his potential victim pool.  And I would like to say thank-you to the VPD for all of their hard work to make sure that the case against Wes was thoroughly investigated and resulted in 14 charges against him.  I know that the publicity didn't make that job any easier and I really appreciate all the long hours put forth.  And to L.C. - your courage to speak out and let other women know about Wes was the main reason I came forward and shared my story.  I really don't know what I would have done had I not known about Wes having scammed you.  You are my hero and I don't think you get enough credit for your bravery.  And in getting to know you as a friend since this incident your positive outlook on life is so inspiring.  Even though we met under the worst of circumstances I am so happy to have you in my life.

Thank-you again to all the amazing people in my life who have supported me through this - I know there have definitely been times when you were concerned for my safety and my well-being and you still supported me.  It has made this whole experience much easier to go through knowing how many people I have around me that love and support me.

Lisa

Arrested!

I will write a full post on this later tonight but thought I should put a link in to the article at least....

http://www.theprovince.com/news/vancouver/Serial+scammer+behind+bars+following+undercover+police/8739383/story.html

Thank-you to everyone for all the love and support during all of this.

Update on Hurricane Wes Devries

 So much has happened since the articles in The Province Newspaper;

http://www.theprovince.com/news/could+talk+fleas+messed+with+wrong+girl/8612967/story.html

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Police+mount+investigation+against+alleged+scammer/8618362/story.html

Just found this and thought I would share:

 http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?p=2768370

Apparently since we have put a dent in the potential victim pool for his 'dating' scams he had to move on to other things.  Here are a few more things to keep in mind, not necessarily about Wes but in general;

- Be very careful who you allow to access your house, anyone from a new friend or potential love interest to a handyman or possible buyer of your goods from craigslist.  Once someone has access to your place they can easily assess what is valuable and where it is kept.
- Secure all bikes when leaving them unattended, even if it is for a short period of time.  I would suggest that you even lock them up when inside a secure area such as a garage
- It is ALWAYS a bad idea to do any financial favors for any reason for someone you don't know very well.  But if you happen to be so 'stupid' to do this, as I was, be aware of what your bank's policies are. Because of my ignorance in banking lingo and no clarification given by 2 different RBC reps I was scammed for $2700.


I have decided that since I have done more towards warning people about Wes Devries than I ever thought I could that it is now up to the universe to balance out all the wrongs he has done.  For awhile I felt like this whole situation was taking over my life...  and while I realize that it is going to be a super long and frustrating process until this is all concluded, my head is in such a better place than it was even a month ago.  It's hard to admit that I misjudged someone.  It was definitely hard to put my giant, costly mistake on display for everyone to judge me on.  It was hard to read the comments about how 'stupid' I am.  It was hard to forgive myself for making the mistakes I made in this whole situation.  And I will fully own those mistakes.  But I have also learned from those and in the process I have also learned a lot about myself and how strong and persevering I am.   And how many more other strong women are out there too.

My experience with Wes De Vries

Thank-you for taking the time to read this.  If you or someone you know was scammed by this man please email me at wesscammedmetoo@hotmail.com.  A big thank-you to Dan Fumano at The Province for all his effort and help getting this story out there.  you can also contact dan @ dfumano@theprovince.com



If I needed someone to vouch for my character I would have about a hundred volunteers for that in no time at all.  And as far as I can tell the rest of his victims are also lovely women with big hearts, compassionate and giving of themselves, trusting and selfless.  Are these the type of women that someone should be exploiting for their kindness?  If Wes needed character witnesses, who would stand up beside him and swear that he was a good person with good intentions? Is there anyone in his life that would?

 Reposted and amended from an earlier blog post;

What follows is a story of a smart woman who made a very stupid mistake.... yup - that's me!  But please don't judge me by this one bad decision I made.  I promise you that I am not usually such an idiot... talking with others I have decided that he uses his magical charms and makes people act like complete fools for short periods of time.  I will never fall under that spell again and I am using this forum to warn other women not to fall victim to him either.  So... here goes....

I met him online.  I wrote to him (ya - that's right, I picked him).  His profile was funny and he sounded great.  He responded right away.  He wanted to meet me that night.  I talked with him for over an hour and then decided that I would meet him for a coffee the next day.

When I met him he was charming and funny, and at the same time very average and normal.  Only thing I didn't like was his hipster doofus hat askew on his head but I could look past that.  He wanted to spend more time with me.  I was flattered. He seemed genuinely interested in me.  For days we hung out together and I immediately felt comfortable with him.  He did little things that built trust.  He bought my coffee.  He was on the phone with his mortgage broker.  We talked about mutual friends we had.  I felt at ease.  I enjoyed spending time with him.  I googled him and basically just found an inactive twitter account - nothing unusual at all.  We went for lunch one Friday and he asked me if I could help him with cashing a cheque.  I hadn't even agreed to do this transaction and all of a sudden we were at the bank and I was depositing a cheque into the atm.  Somewhere in that silly head of mine I knew it wasn't the smartest thing to do but I felt like I would insult him if I questioned the cheque so I did it.  MY BAD!  I have no excuses or explanations as to why I had this lapse of judgement.  I will restate here that I am not usually an idiot but I can see why people might think otherwise right about now.  He did seem like a great guy and everyone around us seemed to know and like him.  What's the worst thing that could happen?  (It's like when you're watching a horror movie and you feel like the next victim should know that the killer is just around that next corner - why are you going that way?  Turn around!  Turn around!)  The cheque was for $2700.  Then he asked me to take out $1000 to give as a down payment for a guy selling a car.  I could only take out $200 so I took that out and gave it to him.  I called my bank to ask when the cheque would clear and was told it would clear the next day (what I found out later was that they meant that the hold would be off and because I was a good customer I could access the money).  This is not a transaction I had ever done before so I trusted the bank when they told me the next day.  The next morning I went into the RBC and again asked if the cheque had cleared and was again told that it had.  The only question asked by the cashier was what bills I wanted the cash in.  Having twice been assured by bank representatives that the cheque had cleared I withdrew the funds and gave them to Wes.  He took the money and then we made a plan to hang out later that night.  He dropped by my place in the late afternoon and we hung out for a bit.  The next day we hung out again.  And the next...

Tuesday morning I knew the cheque was not going to go through.  I can't say here how I found that out but I did - the cheque came back NSF on Friday.  Tuesday morning Wes called me.  I didn't want him to know that I knew about the cheque yet.  He dropped by my house and I said I had to leave to go to the states.  I think he must have felt my energy shift and I saw a new attitude from him.  He looked around my place and said to me, 'You really shouldn't leave all your valuables out.  Someone could easily kick in your door and steal them'.  I walked him out so I could get his license plate number.  As soon as he left I went back to my house and checked my door again.  I went to my car and got in.  As I looked in my rear view mirror I could see that he had just driven up to the next block and pulled in front of another car.  I wasn't going to the states but I left and went and got a coffee.  I called my police officer friend and asked her what I should do.  She told me to call the non-emergency line and report what had happened. I went home and was not even home 2 minutes when Wes texted me 'not impressed'.  Had he been watching my house?  I still did not want him to know that I knew about the cheque so I called him and said I had decided to not go to the states and we could hang out earlier if he wanted.  He seemed satisfied with that.  I hung up and called the police.

Wednesday morning I texted him and told him I knew the cheque wasn't going through.  He wanted to know how I knew anything at 7:30 in the morning.  I told him he could read about how I knew in the police report.  I was not about to give him any information that he could use to better his scam the next time.  He told me he would look into the issue with his bank.  He called me later and told me that a client of his had bounced a cheque and that he would fix it as soon as possible.  I started researching him.  I found an article about him doing something similar in Kamloops and going to jail for it.  I searched his court records (see how to do this in previous blog posts) and saw pages of fraud charges.  I realized what type of individual I was dealing with.  He called me and said he would sell one of his vehicles to pay me back.  I knew it was a lie but I told him I appreciated him keeping in touch.  Then he asked me if we could still have fun together.  Really?  No, really?  I told him he was the most interesting person I had ever met - he took that as a compliment but that is not how I meant it.  At all.

Friday when the cheque came back NSF I sent him a demand for payment letter from my lawyer.  For days he kept in contact saying he was working on paying me. I would text and ask about a payment and was met with responses such as 'want some dick?' - Ummm.... no thanks!  He had a lot of comments along that nature. Then he said he had a payment for me.  I told him to come by my place while I was working and I would come out to get the money.  I didn't expect him to actually show up.  He stalled for hours and finally at almost midnight he showed up at my house.  At that point I didn't feel too threatened by him so I let him in.  He admitted that he had scammed me for money saying that he had got in trouble with his bank and he was sorry that he had thrown me under the bus to fix his problem.  He held my hand and asked if he could just have one hug or one kiss.  I asked him to leave and he did.  He called saying he missed me and wanted to spend time with me again.  I asked him to fix the money problem he had caused me and we'd talk about it, but I definitely had no intentions of ever having any contact with him again after he paid me back.

Days on end of promises to pay, rude sexual messages and getting the run-around.  He would text me late at night asking if I was home and if he could see me.  Finally I decided to completely cut off contact with him.  I sent him a message saying that I wanted zero further contact and it would be my pleasure to let everyone I could know exactly the type of person he is.  (And that's when I started this blog) I got calls from the casino.  I got random texts from weird numbers. Then he texted asking why I was ignoring him.  My last contact with him was 'contact my lawyer if you have money for me'.  That was about 4 weeks ago.  I haven't heard from him since.  While spreading the word about him I found a friends ex-wife had been scammed by him almost 20 years ago.  I found a friend of a friend who was scammed by him at a party a few years ago.  I started to get very angry that he had been getting away with this for so long.  Then I really started doing some investigating and have posted my findings in previous blog posts here.  And now I feel like my efforts are paying off.  I have heard from numerous past victims of Wes De Vries and have heard how he has negatively affected their lives.  If they can find this information I am putting out there on him then hopefully new potential victims are googling him and finding this information too.

It's not easy to admit that I was scammed.  I definitely feel like a fool.  But I am happy to put my embarrassment and stupidity on display if it will help save even one more woman from falling victim to him.  If more people had done this before maybe I would've found some information that would have saved me from being scammed.  So I will do my best to make sure that when someone is looking up Wes De Vries they can find out my experience with him and use the tools I have shown here in this blog to discover more about him and hopefully make the decision to avoid him.  And hopefully those of you who read this will pass on this information as well.

All this will make a great chapter in my book one day...

And a special message to Hurricane Wes - you obviously thought I was as stupid as the one dumb decision I made to cash a cheque for you... guess now you have found out that I am not.  I can't make you pay me back the money you stole from me... I can't make the police make you a priority.... But what I can do.. what I've done already... is make a small dent in your persona that you put out into the world.  And hope that it makes a difference... hope that people heed the warning about you.  It's been my pleasure.  Lisa

For more information on him please see the attached links:

http://canlii.ca/t/1hm8f

http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20090814/KAMLOOPS0101/308159996/-1/KAMLOOPS/con-man-couldn-146-t-talk-his-way-out-of-jail

Mistakes

“We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.” 
― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience

I've been thinking about how people may perceive me...  They might see me and only see the mistake I made.  I guess this is a fear that most victims have.  I know that I made a mistake.  I know that in this instance I was a bad judge of character.  I have judged people for falling victim to scams before.  How could they not have seen what was so obviously a con?  And then this happened....

Now I know what it feels like to be on that side of the equation.  How did I not see Wes for the con man he is? It definitely made me question my own instincts....  I have spent a lot of time thinking about how this could have happened to me.  I haven't come up with any answers yet other than that Wes is ridiculously good at pretending he is genuine.  

I am hoping that people will judge me more on how I have dealt with the aftermath of this whole experience.  I have taken what was an embarrassing and expensive mistake and turned it into an opportunity to warn others and hopefully they won't make the same mistake I did.  I have met many amazing people in the process and so far I have only encountered love and support.  As awful as my experience with was with Wes it has definitely shown me what a strong person I am and how many amazing people I have in my life.  

If you or someone you know has been scammed by Wes De Vries I would like to hear from you.  Please email me at wesscammedmetoo@hotmail.com.  It is so important that you know you are not alone in this and I would like to help support you as you rebuild your trust in yourself.   

How do we get justice?

The more people I come across who have had Wes in their lives, even if it was just for a short period of time like mine, the more I want to make sure that he is brought to justice.  This started out because he scammed $2700 from me in April 2013 but in talking with other victims of his I have realized that I am actually one of the luckier ones.  Others may have lost more money, but the victims most affected by him are the ones who were emotionally involved with him.  I imagine that the feelings I have must be multiplied; shattered trust in myself and in others, a sense of betrayal, not telling people for fear of judgement and criticism.  I feel like I should have recognized what was going on and I blame myself for being too trusting and naive.  I never think of myself as gullible or someone easily fooled so it really did surprise me that I got scammed.  But I am not going to be too hard on myself and others who were scammed by him shouldn't either.

He has spent the last 25 years of his life perfecting his scam.  He knows exactly what to say to make you feel comfortable.  He is superficially charming and yet slightly domineering.  He is just average enough that you put your guard down.  He is an expert liar and doesn't seem to feel any remorse or guilt for the destruction he has caused his victims.  He seems to have an innate ability to find the weakness in people and uses these weaknesses for his own benefit through deceit, intimidation, manipulation and takes pleasure in doing so.  As one victim told me, 'he is the Ted Bundy of financial fraud'.  I am not even sure what justice looks like in this case... Wes De Vries in jail doesn't seem like enough.  Even if he was to somehow fix all the financial ruin he has caused the emotional scars left behind are deep and will be very hard for some to overcome.  I guess that is why I have become so passionate about putting his name out there and exposing him for the con man he is.  I feel the pain of these other victims and I realize how close I was to having been drawn in further and am thankful I have strong and supportive people in my life to help me though this.  I really would like to see his spree of destruction stopped and give his victims some peace.  My money is gone and there is no reason for me to be putting in so much time and energy putting his name out there except to warn potential victims.  I hope this blog is working and I hope it's making it harder for him to scam other people.  I will end today's post with a quote; to have an innate They seem to have an innate ability to find the weakness in people, and are        - The aggravating factors in this matter are that Mr. Devries is a predator and a chronic recidivist. He has engaged in repeated, ongoing, premeditated criminality which commenced almost immediately after his release from custody for similar offences - the honourable Judge J.C. Challenger

 

Wes De Vries - I'm gonna call him 'Hurricane Wes'

Hurricane Wes - Comes into your life in a flash and leaves just as quick (if you're lucky).  Leaves behind a trail of devastation...  Your world has been turned upside down and you can't figure out where to start to rebuild.  But you do rebuild... And make yourself stronger and less vulnerable to the next storm...  Batten down the hatches ladies because Wes De Vries is out there right now, trying to knock down your defenses and if you let him in, even a tiny bit, he will spin you around in his hurricane of lies and leave you a huge mess to clean up afterwards.

How to check out someone's history

If you have met someone named Wes Devries/ De Vries or anyone that you are not sure of and would like to find out more about them here is a small how-to.

In BC you can go to https://eservice.ag.gov.bc.ca/cso/index.do and do an e-search.  (In other areas just google how to find court records in your area)  Type in the persons name - look under both civil and traffic/criminal.  You will find their history of court proceedings and it is almost as good as finding out their criminal record.  On the far left you can click to view most of the traffic/criminal court records but for some records you will need to pay to find out more information on the charges, etc..  You can contact your local police agency if you are really concerned.  When I reported mine they asked me for a description of him and his birthdate to confirm it was the right person.  After confirming they told me that they are aware of him and what he has been doing but that I should pursue him in small claims court.  In Vancouver there is an exorbitant amount of fraud and this criminal knows that and how to work the system so following through with small claims is almost pointless, there is very little chance of ever seeing my money again.  Lesson learned, the hard way once again.  Also try googling the person with any other references you have on them, like where they grew up or other relatives names.  Also, if you know where they work google it, see if it exists, see if they actually work there.  If someone talks about how they cheat by cutting corners or doing under the table work you need to dig deeper and realize that they might be shady in other ways too.

I am hoping that putting this info out there helps even one person not get scammed... I ignored warning signs and Wes is very charming and gives the impression that he used to be a bad guy but he is turning his life around - this is not true.  In my opinion he is a sociopath and is very good at mimicking feelings and trying to fit into whatever you need/want him to be.  He doesn't care about the hardships he causes his victims.   It's sadistic and cruel and he thinks because he has my money that he has won something.. but he really hasn't.  Guess he underestimated how much I would fight for justice and even if it means me never seeing a penny of my money I will keep warning people and keep spreading the word about him and his scams.  I am a good person and the only thing I did wrong was to be too trusting and too focused on seeing the good in him.  I saw what I wanted to see because I thought he was fun and nice and he made me feel special.  But I won't make that mistake again.... And I hope that if you are reading this because you met Wes and are involved with him or thinking about getting involved with him that you do your own research and really find out who he is before you give him any money or any tiny piece of your heart.  He doesn't deserve either of them.  I hope you don't have to go through what I have been going through.  I hope that you read this warning and you realize that all those little signs that your gut was telling you were right and you get as far away from him as you can.