This more of a warning post than a blog post. This scam happened to my mother earlier in the week.

Her story:

I was recently a victim of fraud . The scams started by telling me that it was the CRA calling and that my social insurance number had been used in a lot of scams totalling a lot of money.

An arrest warrant had been issued for me and that they were working with the RCMP. They were putting me in touch with them to do what they told me to do to prove it was not me doing this.

They called and it was the RCMP and asked me questions and then said they were putting me in touch with his boss. I was told to stay on the phone until I completed everything they told me to do. I had to go to my two banks and take out my money. They told me to give them a reason that was believable to get the money.

Then I was to go to a place that had a government safe wallet. It was suppose to keep my money safe until the next day any two officers would bring it to me in the morning. This was to prove it was not me doing the fraud.

When I finally found the place I was told to go to I said I did not want to put my money in the machine, it was a crypto currency machine. I knew nothing about it and it did not say it was a government safe box. He said ok but that arrest warrant would be a sent for me. I was very upset and did not feel well but did if because I did not want to be arrested.I asked if I could keep a couple of hundred because I needed money. He said OK. He then told me to go back to the car and told me to go back to the bank, I was told to take my TFSA out. He had said it would not be part of this at the start. He said to do it.

When I went to the bank I asked for it and they said it could not be done that day? I mouthed this is fraud. She said she would go to the bankers and see if she could get anything done. When she came back she said the same thing. I had to go and sit down because I felt weak. I told him and he said he would hang up and call me when I got home. I was told not to tell anyone, but, I told my daughter in law who told my son. When he called my son answered and he gave it to them, they called back a couple of times and he answered each time and them put them on block. I did not know that was possible.

Having the phone on the entire time made me very nervous, but I was afraid to turn it off. They were very believable.

I am sending this to you because if people become aware of it, someone might be saved from what happened to me. The loss of your money and the upset you feel when you realize what you did. I followed everything and inside I knew something was wrong. I am now realizing what I did and what I loss. I will pay for this for the rest of my life. I do not want this to happen to anyone else.

The really sad part is she realized what she had done very quickly and reported it. Her money was still in the machine but there was nothing that could be done. That just seems crazy to me. The money is there, the digital wallets are out there, how is it that nothing can be done?

We need to have better consumer protections. The bank’s never should have let her withdrawal all her money based on her previous withdrawal history and knowing she was a 73 year old retired widow. They should have imposed a cooling off period or contacted a family member to make sure everything was ok. I thought bank employees were trained for this sort of scenario. I was wrong.

Tele-communication companies need to stop selling our cell phone information. Crypto currency wallets need to be traceable. There needs to be recourse for the consumer. Change needs to happen.

We have talked about these scams, that’s a big part of why she got rid of the landline. The pressure, the fear and the constant intimidation just overtook her in the moment. If you think this can’t happen to your loved one, think again. It can happen to anyone. Make sure your family knows it’s ok to hang up, show them how to block numbers and keep doing it.

I hate these scammers and I will make it my mission to put this out there as much as I can. If it saves one other person from losing their life savings it will be worth it.

If anyone out there has tips as to actions we can take beyond reporting what happened to the ATM company, police and fraud reports please get in touch. I’m not willing to just let this go.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/woman-loses-12000-cra-scam-1.6386347