Ontario couple gives up more than $1M to online scammers despite bank warning
An elderly couple has lost their life savings to online scammers, even after their bank warned about potential fraud.
The couple, from Brantford, Ontario, is out more than $1 million. It was money the unnamed couple in their 70s says they had invested throughout their lives, reports the Daily Mail .
“It was money that we inherited. It was money from the sale of our house. It was money we were going to leave our son.”
The scam began with what a simple pop-up on the couple’s computer screen.
‘I couldn’t get rid of it, the woman said. ‘It wouldn’t turn off.’
It appeared to be an alert about their finances. There was a phone number, which the couple called. The man told CTV News that he recalled being told his SIN number, ‘had been compromised and was being used for money laundering by a criminal organization that was involved in child pornography, human trafficking and drugs.”
As exchanges between the scammers and couple continued over a five-month period, reports the Daily Mail, the thieves posed as representatives from the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, even Canada’s Treasury Board.
The scammers maintained that the couple’s bank accounts were in danger and instructed them on how to keep their money safe. The seniors were told to remove the money and send it to the scammers, who would return it to them after the investigation concluded. They were also directed to directed to buy gold bars and deposit their cash into a Bitcoin machine.
As the demands continued, the couple eventually checked with their bank. They. were told by their financial advisor that “this sort of sounds like fraud,” the woman recalled. However, the couple pressed on, telling the bank they were purchasing the gold as an investment. Ultimately, their losses totalled $900,000 in gold bars and $110,990 in Bitcoin.
Then the scammers disappeared.
‘We’re devastated,’ the man said. ‘It sounds very foolish that somebody would do something like this, but it was the trust that was built up over five months.”
Even worse, the couple also cashed in their RRSPs, so when tax time comes they’ll have a tax bill, which they don’t know how they will pay.
Bank fraud in Canada has surged in recent years, reaching record levels in financial losses. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Canadians lost over $638 million to fraud in 2024. However, actual losses could be much higher, because only 5 to 10 per cent of victims report instances of fraud to the authorities . The effects of embarrassment and shame are thought to be the main reason only 5-10 per cent of incidents of fraud are reported, reports the RCMP Gazette .
In his Annual Report 2024 , the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, reports Hill Notes , a parliamentary library newsletter, fraud is the leading consumer complaint about financial institutions, representing 38 per cent of complaints related to banking services. He also noted a dramatic increase in the number of consumer complaints about electronic transfer fraud and other types of digital fraud.
Seniors and vulnerable individuals continue to be prime targets, says the RCMP .
Ottawa is promising that Budget 2025 will outline a plan to develop a new National Anti-Fraud Strategy.
“Currently, the only legislative requirements are a limit of consumer liability for unauthorized credit card transactions at $50 and the understanding under the Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services that consumers are not liable for losses in circumstances beyond their control, such as unauthorized use of the debit card,” says the federal finance department in a statement released on Oct. 10.
The government intends to introduce legislative amendments to the Bank Act that would require banks to:
- Have policies and procedures in place to detect and prevent consumer-targeted fraud and mitigate its harms.
- Obtain the express consent of bank account holders before enabling account capabilities which fraudsters can use to steal consumers’ money, including transfer and payment capabilities, and to permit account holders to disable capabilities they do not want.
- Allow bank account holders to adjust their transaction limits to protect themselves.
- Collect data on financial fraud and report it to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
Ottawa is also announcing a new Financial Crimes Agency. It will bring together expertise to investigate crimes such online fraud and financial scams and recovering illicit proceeds. The minister of finance will work with the ministers of justice and public safety to bring forward legislation by this coming spring to set up the new agency.
Meanwhile, Canadian can learn more about how to protect themselves by visiting the CAFC website . If you are a victim of fraud, report it to your local police and to the CAFC online or by phone at 1-888-495-8501. Even if you’re not a victim, but suspect fraud has been committed, report it anyway, urges the RCMP. The information could help in ongoing investigations, inform the public about new scams, and help prevent others from becoming victims.
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