Earlier this week, CityNews reported the story of a Vancouver retiree who was scammed out of $400,000 in a matter of days. Since then, readers have reached out with more stories of falling victim to alleged fraud, including a bold scheme targeting an elderly North Vancouver man.
The man’s wife says they lost $120,000 after he was taken in by a fake investment ad last year.
She says he’s 77, often confused, and the scammers slowly gained his confidence through repeated calls, enticing him to invest in what they said was a highly successful “chip-making” company.
She says the scammers sent $25,000 to his bank account. The woman claims she investigated the deposit, but her bank, RBC, deemed it legitimate.
Due to his wife’s frustration, the scammers encouraged the man to move the $25,000 to an account with Scotiabank. From there, scammers encouraged him to send the money to their fund as an “investment.”
Then they asked for more.
“So he went to the bank and took out $120,000 in two money orders. The bank did not question him — even though it’s a joint account — confused old man taking out a huge amount of money in cash — not one question,” she explained.
He reportedly moved the money again from RBC to Scotiabank, and on to the scammer’s fund.
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The woman feels RBC bankers should have seen red flags.
“I spoke to the bank manager… And she said, ‘Oh, well, we vetted him very carefully.’ And they actually lied because they didn’t ask him anything. They just gave him the cash.”
1130 NewsRadio has reached out to RBC for comment.
Because the cash was drawn from a line of credit, the victims have been forced to pay interest on the $120,000.
The woman says she’s got a paper trail of the events, but is left with few options.
The couple shared their story as a warning to others of the methods and persistence of scammers.