A report on fraud insights is warning of an increase of in-person scams, where criminals can provide deceptive documents face-to-face.
One Ontario business owner experienced the practice firsthand.
“It looked like every other bank draft to me and even the teller said it was good,” Patrick Binette, the owner of an excavation company in Lancaster, Ont., told CTV News Toronto.
Binette was attempting to sell a skid steer, something he has done before.
He put it up for sale and was contacted by someone who said they wanted to buy it.
“They were here maybe 20 minutes. They asked a few questions, tried it out and then loaded it up (on a transport truck) and took off,” said Binette.
Binette and the buyer agreed to a selling price of $108,367 and before the buyer came, they agreed payment would be made with a bank draft.
“There was a receipt with the bank draft and he said he was calling from a bank and needed my information.”
Binette said while he felt the Scotiabank bank draft looked real, he decided he should go to a branch to ask a teller if it was legitimate.
“The teller said it was good, that it was a legit cheque. She told me ‘You have nothing to worry about it, it will clear,’” said Binette.
The bank draft did clear, but two days later it was declared fraudulent and the $108,367 was removed from Binette’s account.
“I’m in shock. That’s all our money and I’m in overdraft at this point. Everyone says wait until the cheque clears before you give the machine away, well the cheque cleared.”
CTV News reached out to Scotiabank but a spokesperson said, “Scotiabank does not have a comment for you for this story.”
CTV News also reached out to Desjardins - where Binette banks - and a spokesperson said, “When the draft was found to be fraudulent, it was returned and the funds withdrawn from the account. It’s an unfortunate situation in which this person has been the victim of fraud.”
During Fraud Prevention Month in March, title insurance company FCT released their 2025 Fraud Insights Report, which revealed that in-person fraud is on the rise and fraudsters are now able to create fake documents and deceive people in face-to-face transactions.
“We are seeing a person committing fraud where they are impersonating an individual pretending to be someone they are not,” FCT President Daniela DeTommaso said.
The FCT report also found that emerging threats are powered by new technology and criminals are able to create fake drivers’ licences, bank documents and other materials.
“We are finding in-person fraud is being committed with some frequency and they are leveraging these fakes that are basically undetectable to the human eye,” said DeTommaso.
Despite receiving no help from either bank, Binette’s insurance company reviewed his case and found that it fit within the parameters of theft. He was able to make a claim and was given the $108,367 back.
“It means we can continue to do what we have been doing and put this behind us. We will be extremely careful moving forward,” said Binette.
“I’ve lost a lot of sleep, but we are very lucky.”
