A Whitehorse woman believes she's been the victim of a scam, and wants to find others in town who may have been hit as well.

At the beginning of August, Lynn Martin responded to an ad for language lessons in the Star's classifieds section.

"Learn French in 3 months with an experienced teacher. Satisfaction guaranteed. Special price for August. Call Sonja,” the classified ad read.

Martin called the number listed and spoke with Sonja Duchesne Clemendeau, who told the prospective student she charged $1,400 for 60 one-on-one classes over 30 weeks, "but she said if I paid up front, it was only $1,000.”

Martin was eager to start immeidately. That day, she took a proficiency test with Clemendeau to establish which level she was at, paid her $1,000 fee and planned to begin classes the following day.

Martin told the Star Thursday that when she arrived for her first class, no one answered the door when she knocked.

After waiting around for about 15 minutes, Martin said, she called in at the window, and eventually Clemendeau's husband came to the door.

"He told me she was sick,” Martin recalled. "Then she came to the door, and she really looked terrible, and I think she really was sick. But I wondered why she didn't just call me. That was the first sign.”

Then, a few days later, Clemendeau called Martin asking to borrow some money.

"She said she needed $100 to buy teaching supplies,” Martin said. "I told her I didn't have any cash and she said, ‘Well, can you go to the bank and get some?'

"I was just shocked. I said nothing, and after a while, she said, ‘I guess that's asking too much,' and hung up.”

Over the next four weeks, Clemendeau cancelled all but one of Martin's classes.

"She gave me every excuse, running from illness to volunteer work to scheduling problems.”

The one class Martin did get was excellent, she said, "but everything else was terrible.”

On Monday of this week, Martin received a call from Clemendeau saying the class scheduled for that evening was cancelled because of a double booking; it was the last straw.

Martin called Clemendeau back at the house where she, her husband, Patrick, and young son were renting.

There was no answer, so Martin left a message asking for a call back.

She also wrote a letter explaining that the deal clearly was not working. When she delivered the letter to the house, Martin said, she knew she'd been had.

"The housesitter said, ‘they're gone' – lock, stock and barrel – and he said there's damage to the house. They've fled.”

Martin took her complaint to the RCMP this week.

An investigator took down her information and opened a file, "but they said they couldn't really do anything because I don't have a written contract.”

All Martin has is a cancelled cheque with Clemendeau's name on it, and "French Lessons” written on the subject line.

Police said today there is no criminal investigation underway. "It's not closed in case other persons come forward, but unless something else arises on it to indicate it's not a civil matter, then it's not under criminal investigation.

"I know there are at least six other people who were taking lessons,” Martin said. "I'm searching for the others so we can develop a strategy.”

The disappointed student doesn't have much hope in getting her money back, she said, "but we should at least warn other people before this happens again.”

Martin, who is listed in the white pages of the phone directory, said she hopes anyone else who paid for but never received French lessons from Clemendeau will contact her.

The number Clemendeau listed in her classified ad is that of a long-time Yukon resident who is out of the territory on an extended holiday.

When the Star called it Thursday, the mailbox was full.