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/

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.

25 victims and counting....

 This hasn't been easy for me.  I am a fairly strong person but admitting that I was scammed and publishing the huge mistake I made for all to see has been taxing on me.  I am oddly okay with the money being gone - I've never been someone who lived my life based on money or material things.  But the part of this that has really stuck with me and bothers me is the psychological games he plays with his victims.  I have knowledge of at least 25 victims over the past 10 year period.  I have spoken with many past victims of Wes' since starting this blog and the theme is always the same.  After he steals your money he tries to convince you that he wants to change and that he has guilt and remorse for what he has done and will pay you back.  What I have noticed is that the people he picks to prey upon all have amazingly giving hearts and for awhile believe his story.  Smart women who then realize they have been robbed not only of their money but of their trusting natures.  It is hard when you have been taken advantage of to trust yourself again.

I have been thinking lately about how his children will feel when they see this blog someday.  I feel bad for them.  For those of you that know me, you know that children are a main focus in my life and I would hate to do anything that might cause them pain.  All I can hope is that by me writing this blog and informing people about Wes that it causes him to seek some help and stop his 20+ year run of victimizing people.  He hasn't learned any lessons in jail because the moment he is out he starts scamming people again.  I am not sure there is any therapy or consequence that will cause him to change his ways but I hope for his childrens' sakes that eventually he does.

He seems to have a lot of friends around town.  I am not sure if these people are aware of his scams or not.  But if they are, and they think that it just doesn't effect them and that he is otherwise a good guy, one day he will get desperate enough to screw them over too.   The pattern has been that the closer he is to a person the more he has scammed them.  You might be thinking that myself and the other people scammed by him deserve it in a way for being so stupid.  I guess that's true to a point - he is a master manipulator and most of his victims have very public careers and they are too embarrassed to reveal that they were taken by him.  Unfortunately he relies on that and has flown under the radar for a very long time.  When he does go to jail for his crimes he shows his true colors by returning to scamming people so quickly after release.  He is 43 years old and has had the same behaviour pattern for 25 years now.  Some people are capable of change but he hasn't proven that at all yet.  Here is an excerpt from a judges statement about that - you can see the full report at http://canlii.ca/t/1hm8f ;

[36]      Mr. Devries' criminal history commences in 1989 which, by my calculation, would be the beginning of his career as an adult criminal. It is unbroken since 1989. There are only two years where no convictions are registered, one of which he was in jail. By my count, there are 40 fraud, forgery and false pretence related convictions. There are 18 further property related offences, including thefts, possession of stolen property, including possession and theft of credit cards and obtaining credit by fraud. In addition, there are nine assaults, threatenings or harassment convictions. There is an obstruct a peace officer, in addition to the one he has pleaded guilty to; possession of a prohibited weapon; escaping lawful custody; several breaches of probation; two breaches of parole; and failures to appear.

[37]      He has also had the benefit of a conditional sentence order imposed in August of 2001. That conditional sentence was terminated in January of 2002. He spent 590 days in custody.

[38]      Of significance is that on April 16th of 1999 he received 27 months custody in relation to 14 counts of fraud and one breach of probation. There was a 15-month sentence imposed concurrently at that time, but he was also placed on probation for two years. So as of April 16th, 1999, then, for four years following, until April of 2003, he would have either been in jail serving a sentence for 14 counts of fraud and/or on probation. On August 8th, 2001, as I have indicated, he received a two-year conditional sentence order, again with respect to fraud over $5,000. That conditional sentence order was breached and he went back into custody. On June 11th of 2002, he was again convicted of four counts of fraud and received 10 months on each charge concurrent. He was released, as I understood the evidence, February 6th, 2003 and he was recommitting offences within a week. The first date he is alleged to have made contact with some of these victims is at Whistler in early February.

Where Wes De Vries trolls....

I know there is some confusion about this blog - all mentions of his name including making it his blog are to ensure that it comes up when he is googled.  I have been writing about my experience with him and including a lot of information I have acquired along the way.  If you or someone you know has been scammed by him as well please contact me at wesscammedmetoo@hotmail.com


In the 6 weeks since I have been scammed I have talked to numerous other women scammed by Wes De Vries.  Places where they met him include online, pof, craigslist, coffee shops, restaurants, clubs, through friends.... basically anywhere you can meet someone.  He has ties to Vancouver, Kerrisdale, Yaletown, Coquitlam, New West, Nanaimo, Victoria, North Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, Kamloops, the Okanagan, Toronto, Montreal....

Please warn all the women in your life about him. The next victim could be your friend, your sister, maybe even your mother... I have knowledge of at least 25 victims from the last 10 years and he has been in jail for a lot of that time so he works fast when he is out on the loose.

Thought I would include an excerpt from a judge's statement in 2004 as to why she was sentencing Wes De Vries to 5 1/2 years.  You can see the whole document at this link if you would like;

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

[16]      Count 5 involves S.P. When they were on their second date he started his ruse, wanting a cheque deposited. She refused. He attended at her bank, behind her back, and made the deposit. He returned to the bank and deposited a second cheque without her knowledge. She suffered a $3,574 loss.

[17]      With respect to Count 6, this involves A.F. Again, two cheques ended up being deposited to her account on the ruse that he had no access to his bank over the weekend. Again, as I understood the facts, this was a dating kind of relationship. She suffered a loss of $6,373.

[18]      As to Count 7, these are the theft of cheques of C.S. They went out for dinner and Count 8 involves the fact that when they were on their way, they were stopped by the police and Mr. Devries gave a false name to the police because he believed, according to a later statement, there would be warrants out for his arrest. During the course of his contact with Ms. S., he stole cheques from her residence.

[19]      Counts 9 and 10 involve Ms. S.G. These two knew each other from high school. They agreed to meet for coffee. They dated for a couple of weeks. He deposited a cheque to her account, again saying that he had lost his bank card. Then a second cheque was deposited. He refused to give Ms. G. her card back. She then determined her American Express card had been stolen. She suffered $8,500 in loss relating to her debit card and $1,500 on her AmEx, for a total loss of $11,839.63.

[20]      Count 11 involves cheques taken from a G.G. Mr. Devries, in his statement, said that he had found those in the garbage.

[21]      Count 12 involves L.E. Again, he met Ms. E. over the Internet. They met up in person. He gave her the line that he had been audited with respect to child support and needed to use her bank account. He defrauded her of $3,940.

[22]      Count 13 involves Mr. Devries stealing L.N.'s cheques.

[23]      Count 14 involves a C.P. Again, they met over the Internet. After dating him, she discovered her bank card missing and determined two cheques had been deposited to her account. She was defrauded of $3,875.

[24]      Count 15 involves R.C. They met at a coffee bar. Eventually he talked her into depositing a $2,700 cheque. Apparently he told her it was guaranteed good. She then went to visit him at his hotel. She had worked a night shift and took a nap. During the course of this, he took her debit card. He said it was to refund some purchases they had made after he had deposited the cheque. In any event, he warned her not to contact the police, that it would only make things worse, and that he had a lot of connections. He defrauded Ms. C. of $5,242.72.

[25]      Count 16 and 17 involve S.B. He met Ms. B. just after his release from custody at Whistler. They had a long-distance relationship. They met up again at Whistler, at which time he stole her credit card. He spent about $6,000 on her card before it was frozen. He then convinced her that he would pay her back. She continued to see him until she found out he had stolen yet a second credit card from her. Her total loss was $8,100.

[26]      Count 18 involves another romantic relationship with a L.L. He described that he was having a dispute with his wife. He then stole Ms. L.'s debit card and deposited three cheques to her account, causing her a $7,000 loss.

[27]      Count 19 involves the cheques of L.T., which he stole and later used to make false deposits. In fact, Mr. Devries actually paid Ms. T. back $500, which was originally her loss.

[28]      In Count 20, he used Ms. T.'s card to attempt to negotiate a fraudulent Lotto cheque. There was no loss. He was not successful.

[29]      Count 21 involves D.B. Again, they met over the Internet. They had a date. He gave her the story that he could not use his account because he was being audited for child support. He talked her into depositing cheques. They went shopping and he took cash. He also stole her cheques. She suffered a $1,000 loss.

[30]      Count 23, involves B.H. They met and had a date. He told her he forgot his wallet in a bar. She gave him her card and PIN number. He supposedly used it at the 7-Eleven and once for a business licence. Instead, she found out he had bought a flat screen television and other items. She suffered a $9,500 loss. What is interesting is that, in fact, some of Ms. H.'s money went to seduce, if I can use that term, the complainant on Count 16 in this matter.

[31]      There are 23 victims total in Mr. Devries' most recent spree. Fourteen of these victims have suffered a total loss of $85,316.35. The Crown is seeking restitution for each of them under s. 738 of the Code.

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.