Good deed goes bad

Sue thought she was helping her bank to trap a scammer, only to discover, too late, that SHE was the target!

 

I can tell you more about my sister-in-law’s kindness, infectious laugh or her many decades of volunteer work with palliative care patients. However I believe, it is equally important for you to know more about Sue’s situation to get a better picture of just how heartless these scammers were and the devastating impact it now has on her life.

Sue lives on a small government pension with no assets to speak of. No car, jewellery or other sources of income. Nor does she have a partner or wealthy family to fall back on. Clearly she had no money. SO WHY HER?

 

This breed of scammer primarily targets kind and helpful people. No matter what your financial situation is, if you fit the profile, they have a scheme to match. In Sue’s case, the thieves knew she didn’t have money but she DID fit the profile. Very cleverly, they managed to manipulate and dupe her into CREATING DEBT in order to have some cash - money they could take. How? Best I leave that for Sue to explain. You can read her story here:

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My scam story

When I got an 'alert' phone call saying my Visa card had been compromised and would I like to help find the culprits, I said YES.

 

Of course, in that moment I didn't remember that the bank would never call. So from there I followed orders for 5 days, only now knowing that they controlled my TD Canada Trust bank account, racked up my line of credit to put over $37,000 into my chequing account, then sent me to buy gift cards 'to trick the scammers' by finding out where they were used. I'd give them the numbers, and now I know they were the ones who got the money. All the time they would add clever details, such as how I'd done such good work and helped apprehend several people in this 'ring.'

 

The finish was to be a meeting at MY bank, where I'd hand over the receipts to Mr. Oliver Green - no need to keep the actual cards, which had been opened so I could read the numbers to them. Of course, there was no Oliver Green but thank goodness a trusted employee was in that day and she stayed 2 hours longer than her shift to get all the information to the Loss Prevention people.

 

About 2 days into all this, a fake policeman contacted me, to 'help' catch the culprits too. He was on my cell phone while my bank rep closed my old account and opened a new one. He told me/us to take out some cash and open the new account with what was left. The next morning he was going to meet me but when my rep, after a sleepless night, realized that he too was part of the scam, she called to tell me NOT to see him. By then I had found out that there was no such police officer in Oakville.

 

Now Loss Prevention and the police have cross-referenced files and I'm trying to put my life back together. As my daughter Anna agrees, I was taken in because I believe what people tell me and I always want to help. Such clever and convincing evil folks!

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By the time the scheme was discovered, the scammers had already made their money. This left Sue very deeply in debt. She has no legal recourse, no reprieve from the bank and no way of knowing how she will juggle her living expenses AND a massive debt she suddenly finds she’s responsible for.

 

Sue has agreed to go public with her story, not just for financial aid, but also to raise awareness. She and her family want to thank you very much for your help and support. I think you know from reading this, just how important your contribution is to my sister-in-law. We sincerely hope her story helps protect you and anyone you know by providing you with some insight into how these scams work. Be alert, be careful.