A FAMILY has been left heartbroken after $10,000 was mysteriously missing from their account.
They were trying to save for a house, and after putting in hundreds of hours of work, their money was stolen.
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The Calgary, Canada citizens logged onto their Bank of Montreal bank account for a routine check on March 14, only to find the massive withdrawal with no warning.
“It was really devastating, we were completely shocked
. Our money’s gone,” she told RCI.
After the couple noticed the transactions were to a company they had never heard of, they alerted their bank and went to the local branch.
As Regnier’s husband learned more about the scam, he realized that scammers had turned off his email alerts so money was being transferred for two days without his knowledge.
The monetary loss was especially painful when she reflected on how that money could have been used for her family.
“It’s years of savings and we’ve been feeling very, fearful these past couple of months, like from gas to groceries,
” she said.
The couple has been struggling to get their money back for two months now and they claim BMO says it’s their fault.
“As cybercrime is evolving, it’s very easy to make it look like it was us,” Regnier’s husband explained.
Over a hundred Bank of Montreal customers have come forward with unauthorized transfers on their accounts, according to the outlet.
Users all across Canada have accumulated $1.5 million in losses and some say they are working on a class-action lawsuit, CBC reported.
A Bank of Montreal spokesperson said the bank is determined to work with the government, technology industry, and other banks to help Canadian bankers defend themselves against scams, according to CBC.
“We are always open to reviewing cases when new information becomes available and will be reaching out to our customer to discuss this matter,
” BMO said in a statement.
The U.S. Sun has contacted the Bank of Montreal for comment.
MORE SCAMS
The Regnier family are not the only Canadians dealing with scams.
Hope Colton, from Ottawa, said $4,500 disappeared after she received a suspicious text message.
Top tips on avoiding scams from a bank
As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important you know how to spot a scam:
- Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
- Scammers will often use tactics to make you panicked so you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are told to take immediate action and verify who has contacted you.
- Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
- Never send money to someone you have only spoken to online or by phone as this is likely a romance scam.
- Unless you 100% know who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
- Never accept help from strangers at an ATM and always be vigilant when making withdrawals.
- Do not send money or click any links indicating that you have won a prize.
Source: Chase.com
“It all started with a text I got about a speeding infraction, which isn’t out of the ordinary for me, so I quickly paid it off and that is exactly what got me,” she told CTV News.
She claimed her Scotiabank account had been scammed after someone allegedly changed her bank details and pretended to be her.
Colton then said she received a call from someone who said they worked at her bank.
Though the caller ID said it was someone calling from her bank, the 25-year-old began to second-guess the caller.
“He said he would be calling for me to sign an NDA and I should not be talking to anybody regarding the fraud,” she claimed.
Only when a friend of Colton’s researched the phone number did she realize she had fallen victim to a scam.
Scotiabank launched an investigation into the incident, but Colton claimed the company was calling her responsible.
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