An online Russian dating scam that Canadian police say has organized crime roots has bilked men of thousands of dollars.

Several men report being duped into sending romantic gifts and money to men posing as Russian brides on internet dating sites.

According to an investigation by Radio-Canada's La Facture program, the number of incidents involving Canadian men is on the rise.

Francis, 29, is a Quebecer who said he was scammed after falling in love with a blond Russian named Irina Gorachkina, whom he found on a dating website.

He said they started out exchanging neutral, friendly e-mails. "At first we talked about what we were like," he told Radio-Canada. "I told her I liked the outdoors, walking in the woods."

Francis's e-mail correspondence with Irina grew intimate and after weeks passed was filled with declarations of love such as, "I need you like a fish needs water, like a bird needs wings. I cannot live without you."

He fell in love and made arrangements for Irina to fly to Montreal. She asked him for money to help pay for tickets, visas and other costs, which he said he gladly wired to her — $2,650 in total.

On the day of Irina's scheduled arrival Francis went to the Trudeau International Airport, bought a single rose, and waited.

After eight hours, she hadn't walked through the gates, and Francis noticed another man in the arrivals area holding a bouquet of flowers. "He said, 'Yes, I'm waiting for someone.' And I said I'm waiting for an Irina Gorachkina. He said, 'That's not a joke.'"

The men realized they had been waiting for the same woman, who, as it turned out, did not exist at all.

The experience was humiliating, Francis said. "To think that someone could do that, it's diabolical. It breaks my heart."

Women profiled on sites don't actually exist: Russian authorities

Russian authorities are aware of the problem, said Irinia Zubareva, a spokeswoman with the Russian Interior Ministry.

Scam artists — most often men — create sophisticated profiles of Russian women to lure North Americans into online courtships, she told Radio-Canada.

"These are mostly men who use young girls, who can speak foreign languages to write e-mails and speak on the phone with their victims," she said. "These girls are often language students."

According to RCMP and Quebec provincial police, few people have come forward to make official complaints.

But a U.S.-based webmaster who monitors online dating scams said the websites are elaborately planned and victims have little chance.

As time passes the schemes are "more advanced, with trained psychologists actually participating," said Damien, who didn't want to reveal his last name because he fears reprisal.

Several people are involved in mapping out online courtships, including "planning a different scenario that might take place in a conversation, and then there will be a fork in the road, what to do, and those sort of things," he said.

"These plots are pre-planned initially, and especially with people who've never done it before, it's easy to become a victim."

Online dating fraud is a growing problem, Damien believes.

"I think the amount of money is increasing because scammers are getting hungrier," he said. "They are getting smarter and the number of people they can potentially cheat is getting bigger."

Damien's website allows people to cross-check their girlfriends' names against a list of names used in past scams.

Russian authorities insist the fraudulent internet sites aren't exclusive to their country, and they have caught some of the criminals.

The website russianscamcheck.org allows people to cross-check names to see if their online girlfriends are legitimate.