Elderly Parent possibly a victim of social engineering scam
Before we get started, I'm starting to get the feeling that my mother is showing early signs of dementia. That's not the topic of this post, but this experience of her sometimes remembering things is making that a possibility and may be the cause of some information here being a little foggy as I only have her word to go off right now.
Mother is in Ontario; acquaintance is in Alberta
So my mother has an acquaintance that she allegedly met at a conference years back before covid, and they kept in touch digitally. At some point last year, this friend mentioned a potential business opportunity to my mother but needed money up front for inventory. My mom sent e transfers or wire transfers (can't get a clear answer) late last year and may have some sort of email about the exchange of money for the inventory (allegedly) that details the inventory will *START* to ship at the end of June this year. There is an escalation where they need more money for HST, and then shipping, and in total she has overextended herself and sent over 6 figures while currently having nothing to show for it. Now allegedly they had a call last week where her "friend" says she can give back half of the money, but this week on another call she says my mom will get no refund. This person is intentionally having the conversations about a refund over the phone with no easy way for my mother to record the conversation for evidence.
With these being transfers through a banking institution: is there any legal way to get this money back? Is there any legal recourse for her beyond just reporting this as a scam to the authorities?
Thanks for your time, I appreciate any advice or feedback.