Fraudsters posing as Amazon employees scam Gatineau, Que. victim for $12,000

A Gatineau, Que. resident has fallen victim to a phone scam that resulted in the loss of $12,000, but TD Bank has declined to reimburse the funds.

Suzanne St-Denis says that the scam happened in late July, with a phone call from someone claiming to be from Amazon, alleging that her credit card had been used for a fraudulent purchase.

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"They asked if I had made a purchase in the amount of $200 or just over $200 and it was from Winnipeg and I said no. He said, 'Have you been to Winnipeg?' and I said no. So he says, 'You're disputing it?' and I said yes and he says, 'I have to transfer you to my supervisor,'" she said. "The supervisor came on the line and I did questions with him and they told me that before I go ahead, I have to agree and I said yes then he would have to transfer me to their loss section."

St-Denis was transferred multiple times to a supposed security section, followed by a legal section where she had concerns, but adds the scammers provided a web page that appeared to be connected to the 'Courts of Ontario', and even instructed her to Google the name of the person they were speaking with, which further legitimized her concerns.

"I thought to myself, 'How much more legit can it be?'" said St-Denis. "So then they asked me to withdraw money and deposit it in a verification machine, and it was to verify that the money was good and I questioned that it's the money from the bank, why verify? But they said it had to be verified for one reason or another."

St-Denis withdrew a total of $12,000 from two branches of her financial institution, TD Bank.

"The first withdrawal was $7,000 and the second withdrawal was $5,000," she says. "The woman [bank teller] at one branch asked me what the money was for and I said it was for myself. It was the only question. At the other bank, for the $7,000, they didn't ask me at all."

She then deposited the money into what was described as a 'verification machine'; however, the machine turned out to be a Bitcoin ATM, leading to the loss of $12,000.

"I was so nervous and upset to get this done and he [the fraudster] was on the phone with me the whole time and guided me through it."

Despite contacting TD Bank for assistance, the financial institution has stated to St-Denis that it cannot provide reimbursement.

In response to the incident, TD Bank issued a statement:

"We are sorry to hear about Mrs. St-Denis' situation. While we cannot speak on details of any customer case, we have thoroughly reviewed the incident and have connected with Mrs. St-Denis directly," it reads. "Fraudsters are constantly evolving the ways in which they target Canadians and it's concerning when a customer falls victim to a scam. We recognize that in addition to the potential financial impact, these situations can be very stressful."

TD says protecting the security and confidentiality of its customers' personal, financial, and account information is a top priority along with safeguarding banking information, adding TD would never ask customers to provide personal or financial information by phone, text, or email.

"It is an asymmetry in terms of how much knowledge banks have of the fraud landscape versus how much knowledge everyday consumers have of the fraud landscape," said Vanessa Iafolla, principal with Anti-Fraud Intelligence Consulting. "The problem for me is that when you have a birdseye view across the country of what's going on, which banks certainly do, there's not a lot of customer security that goes into these transactions.

"So, in this case, she [St-Denis] withdrew $12,000 in cash. When you're taking out that much money that should be a flag to literally anybody working in a bank that's something is wrong here."

Iafolla says banks can stop transactions if they choose, and that in Canada, the consumer is not seen as a victim of fraud but rather as a risk to its profitability.

"You or I are not co-victims with the bank, it's that we are going to cost them money and so they can offload that responsibility onto us and say, 'well, you should have known,'" says Iafolla. "If you're the bank, this is your job; you have a responsibility to ensure that you are not contributing to fraud in Canadian society and to allow people to be defrauded allows for fraud to occur."

Following the cyber-theft, St-Denis says she has changed all her passwords and phone number in an effort to prevent further fraud, and remains hopeful TD, her bank of more 50 years, will choose to help recover the thousands of dollars she lost.

"It's a lot of money. I'm retired, so it's not as if I'm going to get a promotion and make more money next week," she says. "And no matter what they tell you, don't do it; just hang up. Don't listen to the story and hopefully I'll help protect somebody else."

In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said the company encourages victims of fraud to inform them.

"Scammers that attempt to impersonate Amazon put consumers at risk. We will continue to invest in protecting consumers and educating the public on scam avoidance. We encourage consumers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe," the spokesperson said.

Amazon has pages on how to identify and report scams.

Increasing Cyberattacks in Canada: How to Protect Yourself

Cyberattacks targeting Canadians have increased steadily over the last decade, with no signs of slowing and there are ways to help secure accounts and yourself from criminals.

• Vigilance with Logins: Avoid entering login details on unfamiliar sites. Double-check URLs to prevent falling for spoofed login pages.
• Unique Passwords: Use different, strong passwords for each account to limit damage if one is compromised.
• Adopt Passkeys: Use passkeys, which rely on biometric scans (e.g., face or fingerprint), for enhanced security over traditional passwords.
• Consider Password Managers: These tools create and store complex passwords securely, eliminating the need to remember multiple logins.
• Enable Multi-Factor Authentication: Add an extra layer of security by requiring a second verification step, such as a code sent via email or text.
• Use a VPN: Protect your privacy and online activity by masking your location with a Virtual Private Network.
• Monitor Financial Accounts: Regularly check your bank and credit card accounts for unauthorized charges, which may indicate a breach. 

Amazon offered further advice on how to identify a scam. 

• False urgency. Scammers often try to create a sense of urgency to persuade you to do what they're asking.
• Asking for personal information. Scammers may try to persuade you to provide personal information over the phone such as addresses, payment information, account login credentials, or financial information.
• Purchases outside of Amazon. Scammers may try to ask you to send money outside of the Amazon website or mobile app through a third-party site or wire transfer.
• Payment via gift cards. Scammers may request you purchase and exclusively pay with gift cards. They may ask for the gift card number, claim code, or PIN.
• Unexpected order. You may receive notification of an order or delivery for an item you weren't expecting.