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At first, Melissa Plett didn’t think there was anything suspicious about a fraud alert call she got last month purportedly from her bank, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).
Her phone’s call display showed the number was RBC’s. Plus, the caller used language she’s heard before when dealing with her bank.
“It was very, very, very well executed,” said Plett, 44. “It’s like they had the entire opening script memorized and rehearsed. There were just no red flags.”
The caller told Plett, who lives just outside Montreal, that someone in Vancouver was trying to steal $2,000 from her bank account. So she complied when he instructed her to log into her RBC banking app while he was on the phone with her, and followed instructions he said would safeguard her money.
By the time the call was over, $14,510 had vanished from Plett’s two RBC accounts, one personal and one for her marketing business. Plett said she found out she was scammed because the real RBC called her shortly after to report fraudulent activity in her account.
Plett says she didn’t share any personal information or codes with the fraudster. But when she asked RBC for a refund, Plett says the bank declined, and told her that she was responsible because she was active in her account when the money disappeared.
“It’s a lot of money,” said Plett. “For you to have just a little bit of a savings account and it just to be gone, it’s like, I’m going to cry now. You just feel helpless.”
Plett is one of many victims of the bank investigator scam, where fraudsters pose as bank investigators or other types of fraud investigators — typically by phone. The scammers tell victims one or more of their banking products has been compromised, and they need to take urgent and necessary action, such as sharing credit card numbers.
In many cases, the fraudsters have personal information on the victim, such as their full name and the name of their bank. They also use a technique known as spoofing to make it appear as though they are calling from a number associated with the victim’s bank.
“If they have personal information, then it makes it believable,” said Jeff Horncastle, outreach officer with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. “Victims are seeing the number on the call display that they trust.”
The scam isn’t new, but it’s growing in sophistication, leading to bigger financial losses.
For the first six months of this year, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre heard from 677 victims of the fraud, and recorded $11.7 million in financial losses — close to double the amount in the same period last year.
Montreal police, who are investigating a criminal network involved in the scam, told CBC News they have identified at least 220 RBC customers who were victims of the fraud. Police estimate total losses of $1.5 million.
RBC told CBC News the bank doesn’t comment on ongoing police matters, but said that it worked closely with Montreal police during the investigation.
When should victims be compensated?
After RBC denied her refund, Plett says she escalated her case at the bank and was denied again, so she has now escalated it to the final level at RBC.
“They can do better for the people that are trusting them with their money,” she said. “I understand that I messed up, but I didn’t know I was messing up.”
Victims of the bank investigator scam can seek reimbursement, but banks often hold the customer responsible and reject their request, or provide only a partial refund.
A Scotiabank visa cardholder was left on the hook for $20,000 in charges he didn’t make, even though an expert told CBC’s Go Public there wasn’t evidence to blame the customer.
Consumer advocate and lawyer Sylvie De Bellefeuille argues banks should be obligated to provide full compensation.
“People were tricked,” she said. “They shouldn’t be held liable. We have to take into consideration, these kind of scams are very elaborate strategies.”
De Bellefeuille and her organization, Option Consommateurs, are currently helping 14 victims of the bank investigator scam — all seniors in Quebec — fight for reimbursement from their banks. She says 12 of the victims are RBC customers.
“[It] really has a bad effect on people,” De Bellefeuille said, adding that some of the victims have lost part of their retirement savings.
Victims of credit card fraud are protected under federal law, but banks can argue the rules don’t apply if they determine the customer “demonstrated gross negligence.”
And there are currently no legislative requirements for banks to reimburse customers for unauthorized banking transactions, Finance Canada told CBC News.
De Bellefeuille says the federal government needs to beef up regulations to ensure victims of this type of scam get their money back.
“People feel victimized [the] first time because they’ve been a victim of fraud, but also a second time because, afterwards, the banks basically said, ‘Well, sorry, it was your fault.'”
RBC responds
RBC spokesperson Cheryl Brean didn’t answer questions about Plett’s case, including questions about why the bank declined to provide a refund.
She did say the bank takes customer concerns seriously and deals with its clients directly. Brean also said that RBC works hard to prevent, detect and investigate fraud, which includes collaborating with police and other entities on the matter.
“Financial crimes are increasingly sophisticated,” she wrote in an email.
On its website, RBC guarantees customers a full refund for digital transactions they didn’t make or approve, if they show they’ve “been a victim of fraud, theft or have been coerced by trickery, force or intimidation.”
Plett says because she learned she had been scammed from RBC, the bank knows she’s a victim of fraud. She says when the real RBC called shortly after the scam call, the bank told her that a fraudster had made two wire transfers totalling $5,410 from her business account.
“They’re the ones that called me and said there’s been fraudulent activity in your account. So then you would think, ‘Oh good, they’re going to help me.’ “
Plett’s bank records, seen by CBC News, show that money was also taken from her mortgage line of credit. On top of losing $14,510, RBC charged her $35 in fees for the two wire transfers.
Hours after CBC News sent RBC a media inquiry about Plett’s case, she said the bank called to tell her it’s investigating the matter.
What is Ottawa doing?
Last year, the federal government held consultations on proposed changes to strengthen federal protections for bank customers.
Proposals include a requirement for banks to collect and report data on scams targeting customers, and provide fraud victims reimbursement beyond a yet to be determined amount, regardless of how their funds were accessed. The maximum amount card fraud victims are liable for is generally capped at $50.
The federal Department of Finance had no update for CBC News on when the proposals could take effect.
De Bellefeuille says change needs to come soon, because the bank investigator scam does not appear to be letting up.
“Lots of people are losing money.”
If you get a fraud alert call from your bank, experts advise that you should hang up and call the bank back directly using the number on their official website or your bank card to ensure it was actually your bank that called.