Recently widowed and stressed, an 81-year-old Winnipeg woman was going through a rough spell and she didn't have a lot of money to buy Christmas gifts for her grandchildren. She does not wish to be identified.

"It was a very vulnerable time for me and it still bothers me, I was at a really low ebb in my life."

Then the phone rang. On the other end, a deal that seemed too good to be true.

"This very kind persuasive person talked to me about investing some money."

The offer: promises of high returns for an initial $250 investment. Over the next couple of months the widow was contacted several times online.

"And then it went from there, then it was $700 dollars, then it was $800 dollars, and it kept just going like that."

Sadly it was all a scam. The senior is out $20,000, from a bank draft and her credit cards. It wiped out her savings, she had to get social assistance.

"I started to cry and I cried for days and days and nights and nights and I couldn’t sleep and I couldn't eat."

She's not alone.

The Manitoba Securities Commission says it's known as the binary options scam. A binary option is a sort of wager on the future value of a currency or an asset like a stock. If you guess right you get paid. But in this scheme no wagers are made, the money is pocketed.

In the last six months the commission has issued 15 alerts and opened 29 investigations. It estimates loses for Manitoba victims at $500,000.

"They're frauds, they're con men they're very good at it," said Jason Roy, from the MSC.

But Roy believes the dollar amount is likely in the millions because of unreported cases.

"It is Canada's biggest investment fraud going on right now," said Roy.

He urges people to come forward to get the word out and prevent this from happening to someone else. The 81-year-old who was defrauded says that’s why she’s speaking out.

"I just hope that talking about it will help some other person not to get caught in this because it becomes hell on earth."

Things to remember:

- The securities commission says no company is allowed to deal in binary options investments in Canada.

- If you are contacted by someone offering you this type of deal, do not give out any personal information.

- It advises people to contact the commission immediately.