My Grandpa's new girlfriend is crazy and she's hiding something. I need opinions on what's going on here and if he's safe...

I need to get this out because it’s been bothering me for a while, and I honestly don’t know if I’m imagining things or if something is really… off.

My grandpa has been dating this woman for a while, like 2 months now, and at first, everything seemed fairly normal. We met her on Canadian Thanksgiving, and they’d been together for about 30 days. She came with gifts for my mom and me, but her energy was cocky and obnoxious. The more we learn about her, the weirder it gets.

Grandpa acts odd when she’s around. He’s a chatty, social guy, but when we met her, he sat alone in the corner. Maybe it was because she wouldn’t let anyone else get a word in, or maybe because she spent the whole night talking trash about him and making fun of him. She even told a story where he supposedly lashed out at a friend he’s known for years over her, a story that is ridiculously out of character for him.

Her past is a total mystery. She claims to be from Italy and Europe, yet she has no accent. She won’t give us any details other than that she’s from Italy. We don’t know her last name, her age, what she used to do. Nothing.

Her stories are inconsistent. She's supposed to be a widow, but no details. She tells little anecdotes about her life, but they rarely line up. For example, her ring was once cut off, and she refuses to wear one now—but if she travels and Grandpa sees her wearing a ring online, she says it’s “for safety.” I get that, but the context is awkward and strange.

She exhibits subtle control. She seems very focused on my grandpa and often tries to steer his attention away from family events or friends. It’s never overtly mean, but it’s the kind of thing where you notice she’s always inserting herself into decisions or quietly isolating him. They’ve been together about a month and a half, and he’s never been apart from her. I used to do biweekly lunches with Grandpa, but those haven’t happened since they met. She even tells stories about how hard she fought for his attention—just to say she’s leaving after Christmas.

Her behaviour is strange. Many of her stories seem far-fetched, almost like something out of a movie.

My gut keeps screaming that something isn’t right. I’ve tried to ignore it, telling myself I’m being paranoid, but the pattern of odd behaviour is hard to explain. None of the things individually are huge red flags; they just add up to a weird pattern.

Now things get even weirder. My parents went out with them last weekend, and that’s when she told them she’s leaving in a month and a half. She claims she’s travelling to Europe with a doctor who supposedly “miraculously healed” her severe stomach issues (we don’t know what they were. She only said she had been eating baby food for years and he “healed” her, with no procedure mentioned). She says the doctor is taking her to Europe to boast her success story and will pay her $138,000 to go with him.

When my mom asked why Grandpa isn’t coming, since they’re both retired, she said she’ll be staying with the doctor. Then she added that she doesn’t want to put Grandpa through her being all over the internet, but she’ll wear her wedding ring while she’s gone so she doesn’t appear single.

Grandpa isn’t wealthy; he doesn’t have money to steal. He’s a wonderful man, and I’m not doubting that someone could love dating him. My worry is entirely for his safety and his feelings.

Mom and I have come up with a few theories:

• She's attempting to scam him
• She may be a murderer
• The doctor doesn’t exist.
• Her husband is in Europe, and she’s hiding it.
• None of it is real, and she’s hiding something else entirely.
• She’s joining a cult.

I don’t want to accuse anyone of anything, and I could very well be overthinking this. But it’s reached the point where I feel like I need an outside perspective.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? How do you handle it when a family member’s partner seems… off in ways that aren’t obvious, but still feel wrong?