Ontario senior loses $16,500 to bank investigator scam
CTV
An Ontario senior said she lost thousands of dollars earlier this year in a scam where someone pretended to be an employee of her bank.
An Ontario senior said she lost thousands of dollars earlier this year in a scam where someone pretended to be an employee of her bank.
"My mom believed it was CIBC calling, and she was helping them with an investigation," Kendra Hickton, who has been helping her mother Ellen deal with the bank fraud case, told CTV News Toronto.
The Oakville senior said she received a call one morning in January of this year from someone claiming to be with her bank investigating a scammer.
"She said, 'I'm calling from CIBC to let you know your account has been compromised,' and as soon as she said that, I went into a panic mode. My brain froze. I was just like terrified," Ellen Hickton said.
Ellen Hickton said she wanted to help and followed her instructions on the phone, which included withdrawing money from her bank account, buying thousands of dollars in gift cards, and putting thousands more into Bitcoin.
"She said we will put money into your account. It's not your money coming out," said Ellen Hickton.
Ultimately, she sent the scammers $16,542 of her own money in gift cards and Bitcoin.
