Retired school teacher Shabetai Shattah thought he was helping his bank stop a thief. It was all a scam: one that saw him walked through several complex steps to hand over his money to people he never saw. A Montreal man says TD Bank did not do enough to protect him from a scam that cost him $13,000 after fraudsters made a cash advance on his credit card.
"I opened up Easyweb and, lo and behold, there's $13,000 in my account," said Shattah, 72. "In my head, I figured, 'well, this is totally legit.'"Shabetai Shattah said a scammer told him an employee at his TD Bank branch in Côte Saint-Luc was leaking information and defrauding customers. At the first branch, the teller asked him what the money was for.
In Shattah's case, he found out the fraudsters had taken out a cash advance on his VISA and then transferred it to his chequing account. Typically, the scammer claims to be from a bank or a major credit card provider. They say there are unauthorized charges on the account or the card is compromised. When the fraudsters called him, Shattah recalls seeing a 1-877 number come up on his call display, which is commonly associated with banks.
But Claudiu Popa, a privacy and cybersecurity consultant, said people's email addresses and phone numbers often end up on spam lists.Popa advises people to install a robust filtering system, so spam emails go directly into their junk mail. If they are tempted to click on a link, it's better to call the bank first and check with them directly.
Once the fraudster has access to the victim's online banking, they can change the victim's information, including the person's cell phone number, so any alerts or codes get sent to an alternate phone number.Fraudsters are counting on some consumers being unfamiliar with certain technologies and systems.
Each QR code Shattah received is linked to a specific bitcoin wallet or account. CBC Montreal found the wallets, which showed how much money went in and out on a specific day.