A couple from Sudbury, Ont., says they lost more than $90,000 due to fraudulent activity on their Scotiabank accounts, leaving them to rely on support from friends and family because the bank has not offered help of any kind.
Dilyn Gilbert-Leduc took over ownership of Mor In Pools and Spas with his wife in January. He told CTV News that from business to personal, all of his accounts are with Scotiabank.
On March 31, they lost everything.
“We had a bunch of missed calls from the Scotiabank customer service line that we confirmed on our debit card with the phone number,” he said.
“At this point, a bunch of money was already gone from our business accounts (and) personal accounts.”
The couple said that fraudsters had already gained access to their account.
“I asked them (Scotiabank) for confirmation on that, from what they understand someone used a personal token to get into my Scotia Connect account and add themselves ... to my business account," he said.
Later in the day, the couple decided to answer one of the calls.
‘We had nothing more to lose’
Gilbert-Leduc said the couple was cautious, aware of the prevalence of fraudulent activity.
“We initially refused to give any information to the person on the phone, just saying that we would go to our branch and deal with our branch adviser in person, just knowing there (are) lots of scams and fraudulent activity out there,” he said.
Gilbert-Leduc said after several return calls from the individual, who confirmed their name and other identification -- and with the couple even calling back using the same number -- they relented and spoke with the caller.
He gave them personal information when he spoke with them.
“We were able to kind of, just at this point, we had nothing more to lose,” he said.
Fraudsters manipulate phone numbers
However, Jeff Horncastle, of the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, said that phone numbers appearing on call display can’t be trusted.
“You have to be aware that the fraudsters have the ability to make any phone number show up on your call display,” said Horncastle.
“If they’re not aware of that, then you’re automatically at risk.”
He said telephone fraud relies on a specific tactic that leaves consumers vulnerable.
“The biggest message that we try to get out there was, you know, telephone fraud specifically is the fact that the fraudsters can manipulate phone numbers (through) caller ID spoofing,” he said.
“There’s no way to confirm 100 per cent who we were speaking with.”
‘Zero support’
Gilbert-Leduc said there have been no offers for mortgage deferrals or credit increases and zero support from Scotiabank to help them continue running their business or feeding his family.
“They’ve been giving us 50-50 shots of getting our money back, even stating they know where the money is,” he said.
“They’ve been in contact with the bank that has the money they were able to trace everything to. Now they have just been saying they don’t even know if they can get it back or do anything to support us.”
Bank cites privacy, warns of spoofing
CTV News contacted Scotiabank for comment. Spokesperson Graham Slaughter said the financial institution can’t comment on any individual client matters for “privacy reasons.”
The bank did provide a statement which reads in part:
“The bank will never ask clients to disclose their PIN, password or a one-time code on a call they didn’t initiate … Scotiabank’s customer service line has not been compromised. Fraudsters may spoof phone numbers to make a call appear as though it is coming from the bank.”
Couple hopes to hold bank accountable
The couple said they are sharing their story in hopes of holding the bank accountable.
In the meantime, the couple said family and friends have stepped up to support them so they can operate the business as usual.
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