James Mathelier says he’s had many sleepless nights in the past four months after falling prey to a costly phone scam.
Now, out thousands of dollars, the Toronto man is speaking out, saying his bank didn’t do enough to protect him and is even charging interest on the funds he lost from his line of credit.
On April 24, the 63-year-old says he answered a call from a man claiming to be a Bank of Montreal employee, warning him that fraudsters had accessed his bank account. The phone number matched his bank’s, making it seem legitimate.
The caller then asked for a verification code which was sent to Mathelier’s phone, supposedly to confirm his identity.
“I knew I shouldn’t share codes over the phone, but he offered for me to call the bank back to continue this process. He said we had to act quickly because money was being withdrawn,” Mathelier told Radio-Canada.
“I was panicking.”
After sharing this code, three withdrawals were made from his personal line of credit: $7,500 and $1,452.72 that day, and another $7,500 the next day. “It’s been impacting my mental health. I can barely sleep,” Mathelier said.
Mathelier says after his call, three withdrawals were made from his personal line of credit. (Philippe de Montigny/CBC)
Mathelier says he contacted BMO and police days later in hopes of recovering the funds. Toronto police confirmed a report has been filed and is being “actively investigated,” but did not share further details.
Bank ‘not responsible,’ but reimbursed some funds
On May 11, the Bank of Montreal issued Mathelier a refund for the smallest of the amounts withdrawn, but not for the other two.
“Please note that this is a scam, which unfortunately is not covered by our fraud services; therefore, the Bank of Montreal is not responsible for the loss incurred,” BMO said in a July 5th email to Mathelier seen by Radio-Canada.
Mathelier says he was “baffled” that the financial institution would choose to cover a portion of the stolen funds if it denied all responsibility.
“I asked them, ‘Why reimburse $1,452.72, and not the remaining $15,000?’ It doesn’t make any sense.”
Radio-Canada asked BMO that same question, but the bank refused to comment, saying it is committed to the confidentiality of its clients.
Financial crime expert Vanessa Iafolla says by issuing a partial refund, the bank acknowledges some responsibility in the matter.
“They don’t just reimburse people for fun or goodwill — they reimburse them when something has gone wrong,” said Iafolla, a Halifax-based anti-fraud consultant.
Further, she added, banks have processes and algorithms designed to catch irregular transfers.
“The bank didn’t notice the first unusual transaction and they didn’t notice the next two that happened in 24 hours, which is usually a pretty glaring red flag that something’s wrong,” Iafolla said.
Bank charging $200 in extra monthly interest
On top of scrambling to recover the $15,000 taken from his personal line of credit, Mathelier says he is also being charged interest by BMO on the new “debt.”
Before the scam, he paid about $315 in interest every month. Now, his monthly payments have soared to $550.
I feel like I’m choking. I can’t take it anymore.– James Mathelier
With rent and overall cost of living going up — and a toddler at home — he says he’s struggling to stay afloat on his teacher’s salary.
“I feel like I’m choking. I can’t take it anymore,” he said.
Iafolla says the bank could suspend interest payments until the issue is resolved.
“But it seems like they’re profiting off the client’s victimization rather than taking that into account. They can write that interest off. There’s nothing to say that that interest has to be paid by the client, or indeed has to be charged at all,” she said.
Vanessa Iafolla is a Halifax-based financial crime and anti-fraud consultant. (Brian MacKay/CBC)
The Bank of Montreal did not explain why it is continuing to charge interest on the stolen funds, after recognizing they part of a scam.
“With phone scams and digital crime on the rise, it’s important to remember that protecting bank accounts is a partnership between customers and their financial institution,” BMO said in an emailed statement to Radio-Canada.
“Customers are responsible for safeguarding their account information, online banking passwords and PINs at all times.”
Beware of fraudsters asking for 2-factor codes
John Horncastle, spokesperson for the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, says this type of phone scam, where a fraudster pretends to be a bank investigator, is on the rise across the country.
“This is one of the top-reported scams,” he said in an interview. So far, in 2023, the centre has received 1,830 reports involving 681 victims, he said. Nearly $6 million was lost in the first six months of this year, he added.
The losses are well on track to surpass the $6.9 million recorded in 2022 by the end of the year. More than 1,000 victims had reported such scams last year.
And that may only be the “tip of the iceberg,” Horncastle said, because the Anti-Fraud Centre estimates that less than 10 per cent of victims come forward to authorities after they’ve been scammed.
Horncastle says with two-step or multi-factor authentication now widely used as an extra layer of protection, fraudsters are now commonly finding ways to convince victims to share their verification codes, allowing the fraudsters to gain access to their bank accounts.
“They are always changing their ways and it’s important for us all to try to keep track of common tools fraudsters are using.”
In the last few months, BMO emailed tips to customers to help protect their accounts from an “ongoing fraud trend,” saying the bank would never call, email or text asking for their verification code, passwords or answers to their security questions.
The bank adds that some fraudsters “might even possess other personal information to make the scam more convincing.”
“We encourage customers to be diligent in protecting their user ID, to monitor their account activity closely and to change their passwords or PINs frequently,” BMO stated in an emailed response to Radio-Canada.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
