By Michele Yeo
Imagine, after three years of dating, you find out not only is the person you thought was the love of your life not who he says he is, but he’s also been scamming you and stealing from you as well as a series of other women, your entire relationship. That’s the premise of the new documentary ROMCON: Who The F**ck is Jason Porter?
The documentary introduces us to Heather Rovet, a real estate agent who thought she won the romance lottery when, in 2018, she met Jace Perretti. Rovet, who was 46 at the time, was doing some renovations to her midtown Toronto condo and Peretti was assigned to fix her kitchen cabinets. The two sparked and quickly began dating. Before long Peretti had met Rovet’s family and was spending most of his time at her condo.The couple got serious, planned for their future, and eventually moved into a large house outside of Toronto under the guise they’d ultimately be joined by Peretti’s young son once his custody dispute with an ex was resolved. They even went into business together, purchasing a boutique furniture and home decor business.
But, over the course of their three years together, things started to go awry – and missing. Money from their business started disappearing along with several pieces of expensive jewelry belonging to Rovet’s mother. Other things weren’t adding up – three years into their relationship Rovet still hadn’t met Peretti’s son. He would also disappear for days at a time. Once Rovet started to pull at the string of suspicion, everything began to unravel. She discovered not only was Peretti active on several other dating apps and sites, his name wasn’t even Jace Peretti, rather Jason Porter a man who had a criminal record and deep history of lies, fraud, and scamming women. He also had two other children from a previous marriage in addition to the one son Rovet knew about. And she was just one of his many victims – during their relationship he was pursuing and stealing from various other women. While Rovet is the main character in ROMCON, we’re also introduced to several other women who had been scammed by Porter who met women under a series of different names.
Romance scams are more common than you might think. In fact, as the documentary reports, in 2022, romance scams across Canada accounted for 59 million dollars in losses. And those are just the reported losses. Countless victims do not report they’ve been scammed whether it be because of shame, embarrassment, or fear. Heather Rovet is not one of those women. ROMCON follows her along on her quest to seek justice for herself and others.
After originally sharing her story in a 2022 Toronto Life article, documentary producers approached Rovet to tell her tale in ROMCON. “At first, I wanted to share my story in the hopes of getting more answers,” Rovet tells 29Secrets. “I had many missing pieces to my puzzle.” Eventually, as more and more women came forward as having been victimized by Porter, Rovet felt a sense of duty. “The story kept unravelling; more women would reach out to me, and we also know of many other things he stole from people but was never charged for,” she says. Throughout the documentary we see how Rovet becomes a sounding board and source of support for Porter’s other victims. “There were days when I wanted to stop when I felt like a one-woman vigilante trying to seek justice,” she says. “But every time I almost did, someone new would contact me and tell me their Jace/Jason/Don story, and it would refuel my inner fire. I kept going. The longer it took, the more unfair it was, and the more victimized I felt were all reasons to keep going.”
So how was Porter able to successfully scam, swindle, and steal from so many women? Rovet has her theories. “I think that everyone hopes to meet someone and fall in love,” she says. “He preys on that vulnerability, weaponizing it and exploiting love.” And finding victims is easier than ever with the help of dating apps. “It is easy to hide behind an online profile,” she says. “It is easy for him to lie in that arena. Dating apps are here to stay, and it is a playground or hunting ground for him. He has also had many years to perfect his con. He knows what works and what women want to hear. He is a predator!”
Since the experience, Rovet says she’s been able to identify potential red flags earlier and has advice for other women who are navigating the dating pool. “If you meet someone online and are chatting and get an ‘off’ feeling or a bad vibe, don’t engage them,” she advises. “Check with the Facebook groups – Are We Dating The Same Guy – to see if he has been posted. Early red profile flags would include a scant profile but with pictures and personal information. If someone’s picture looks fake, try doing a reverse image search; someone may be getting catfished. If you are dating someone in real life, some signs to look out for include future faking and degrading their exes. Future faking is when individuals discuss getting married or living together weeks after meeting one another.”
While the experience was a harrowing one, Rovet hopes the documentary and being so candid and vulnerable will ultimately help others. “I hope that sharing my story and knowing there are other stories like mine out there will help women find the courage and knowledge they need.”
ROMCON: Who The F**k Is Jason Porter? is now streaming on Prime Video Canada.
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