RBC and CIBC allow 89-year-old to drain life savings, lose $1.7M to scammers

Ray Anholt of Victoria recently marked his 90th birthday, but says there was little to celebrate — being the victim of one of the largest-ever bank investigator scams reported in Canada, he was left virtually penniless.

Over six months last year, Anholt lost his life savings — almost $1.7 million.

The scam involved phoney bank employees, fake official letters from various government bodies and politicians, piles of cash, massive bank drafts, gold bars and couriers — but the most unbelievable part of the elaborate ordeal is that two major banks allowed a vulnerable senior to empty his accounts despite red flags, says Anholt’s daughter.

“They watched this 89-year-old man pull out every cent,” Jill Anholt told Go Public, her jaw taut with anger.  

And while Ray's loss was massive, he has plenty of company. 

Last year alone, Canadians lost more than $643 million to bank fraud — an increase of nearly 300 per cent since 2020. As scams get increasingly sophisticated, experts say our financial institutions lag behind other countries with better protections.

“This has been a rampant problem for years and you haven't seen anything except baby steps forward,” said Democracy Watch co-founder and bank accountability advocate Duff Conacher.

Neither CIBC nor Royal Bank — where Ray was a customer — agreed to an interview. Both banks said in statements that they have robust measures to protect and alert clients when fraud is suspected. 

In June 2024, Ray’s phone rang — call display showed the number was from CIBC, but it was actually a scammer. 

The caller said he worked in the bank’s fraud department and needed Ray’s help with an important, national investigation regarding money-laundering.

He instructed him to withdraw money from his accounts, telling him a courier would then pick up the money from his apartment and it would be kept safe until the investigation wrapped up. 

The scammer also said it was imperative Ray not tell anyone, as it could jeopardize the investigation.

“They said, ‘We want to make sure that you don't lose your life savings,’” said Ray. “So I went along with it.”

His daughter says he also complied because people who were in supposedly powerful positions were asking for his co-operation.