At first, Melissa Plett did not think there was anything suspicious in a fraud alert call that he allegedly received his bank, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).
The call screen showed that the number was RBC. In addition, the person he called used the language he has heard before dealing with his bank.
“It was very, very, very well executed,” said Plett, 44. “It’s as if they had the entire memorized and rehearsed opening script. There were simply no red flags.”
The person he called told Plett, who lives on the outskirts of Montreal, that someone in Vancouver was trying to steal $ 2,000 of his bank account. Then she fulfilled when he told her to start session in her RBC bank application while he was talking on her phone, and followed the instructions she said she would safeguard her money.
When the call ended, $ 14,510 had disappeared from the two RBC accounts of Plett, one staff and another for their marketing business. Plett said he discovered that it was scammed because the real RBC called it shortly after to inform a fraudulent activity in his account.
Plett says he did not share any personal information or codes with the scammer. But when he asked RBC for a refund, Plett says that the bank declined and told him that he was responsible because he was active in his account when the money disappeared.
“It’s a lot of money,” said Plett. “To have a small savings account and just to have gone, it’s like, I’m going to cry now. You simply feel helpless.”
Plett is one of the many victims of the scam of bank researchers, where scammers are raised as bank researchers or other types of fraud researchers, usually by phone. The scammers tell the victims that one or more of their bank products have been committed, and must take urgent and necessary measures, such as sharing credit card numbers.
In many cases, scammers have personal information about the victim, such as their full name and the name of their bank. They also use a technique known as falsification to seem that they are calling from a number associated with the victim’s bank.
“If they have personal information, then it makes it credible,” said Jeff Horncastle, dissemination officer of the Canadian Anti-Franud center. “The victims are seeing the number on the call screen they trust.”
The scam is not new, but it is growing in sophistication, which leads to greater financial losses.
During the first six months of this year, the Canadian Anti-Francud center listened to 677 victims of fraud, and registered $ 11.7 million in financial losses, near twice the amount in the same period last year.
The Montreal Police, who is investigating a criminal network involved in the scam, told CBC News that they identified at least 220 RBC clients who were victims of fraud. Police estimated total losses of $ 1.5 million.
RBC told CBC News that the bank does not comment on ongoing police matters, but said it worked closely with the Montreal police during the investigation.
When should victims compensate?
After RBC denied his reimbursement, Plett says he intensified his case at the bank and was rejected again, so he has now intensified at the final level in RBC.
“They can do better for people who trust them with their money,” he said. “I understand that I was wrong, but I didn’t know I was wrong.”
The victims of the bank researcher’s scam can request the reimbursement, but the banks often hold the client and reject your requesteither Provide only part.
A head of the Scotiabak visa card stayed in the hook for $ 20,000 in positions he did not, although an expert told CBC that it was public that it was not evidence to blame the customer.
Bellefeuille’s consumer and lawyer Sylvie argues that banks should be obliged to provide full compensation.
“The people were deceived,” he said. “They should not be considered responsible. We have to take into account, these types of scams are very elaborate strategies.”
Bellefeuille and his organization, Option Commateurs, are currently helping 14 victims of the scam of bank researchers, all the elderly in Quebec, fight for the reimbursement of their banks. She says that 12 of the victims are red blood cells.
“[It] It really has a bad effect on people, “said De Bellefeuille, adding that some of the victims have lost part of their retirement savings.
Victims of credit card fraud They are protected by federal lawBut banks can argue that the rules do not apply if they determine that the client “demonstrated serious negligence.”
And there are currently no legislative requirements for banks to reimburse unauthorized bank transactions, Finance Canada told CBC News.
Bellefeuille says that the federal government needs to reinforce regulations to ensure that victims of this type of fraud recover their money.
“People feel victim [the] First time because they have been victims of fraud, but also for the second time because, then, the banks basically said: ‘Well, I’m sorry, it was your fault.’ “
RBC responds
RBC spokeswoman, Cheryl Brean, did not answer questions about Plett’s case, including questions about why the bank refused to provide a refund.
She said the bank takes customer concerns seriously and deals directly with their customers. Brean also said that RBC works hard to prevent, detect and investigate fraud, which includes collaboration with the police and other entities on the matter.
“Financial crimes are increasingly sophisticated,” he wrote in an email.
In Your websiteRBC guarantees customers a complete refund for digital transactions they did not do or approved, if they show that they have been “victims of fraud, theft or have been coerced by deception, strength or intimidation.”
Plett says that because he learned that he had been scammed from RBC, the bank knows that he is a victim of fraud. She says that when the real RBC called shortly after the scam call, the bank told her that a scammer had made two bank transfers for a total of $ 5,410 of her commercial account.
“They are the ones who called me and said there has been fraudulent activity in their account. So they think: ‘Oh, well, they will help me.'”
Plett bank records, seen by CBC News, show that money was also taken from its mortgage credit line. In addition to losing $ 14,510, RBC charged $ 35 in rates for the two bank transfers.
Hours after CBC News sent RBC a media consultation on Plett, he said the bank called to tell him that he is investigating the matter.
What is Ottawa doing?
Last year, the Federal Government Submit questions about the proposed changes To strengthen federal protections for banking clients.
The proposals include a requirement for banks to collect and report data on scams aimed at customers, and provide fraud victims to reimburse beyond an amount still to be determined, regardless of how their funds were accessed. Victims of maximum amount card fraud are generally responsible has a $ 50 limit.
The Federal Finance Department had no update for CBC news about when the proposals could go into force.
Bellefeuille says that the change must arrive soon, because the bank’s researcher’s scam does not seem to be.
“Many people are losing money.”
If you receive a fraud alert call from your bank, experts advise you to hang and return the call to the bank directly using the number on your official website or on your bank card to make sure that it was really your bank that you called.
