Stripped of almost $ 100,000 to 84 years

A new variant of banking fraud involving a false policeman is increasingly victims in Quebec and Ontario. In addition, Michèle Toso Saint-Denis, 84, lost nearly $ 100,000 falling into the trap. Meanwhile, His son deplores the slowness of his bank to detect abnormal transactions.

Posted at 5:00 a.m.

Michèle Toso Saint-Denis is ashamed.

On May 15. Moreover, a “calm and posed man, who did not speak much”, called him by pretending to be the investigator Martin Leblanc, of the Police Service of the Agglomeration of Longueuil (SPAL).

The police, he said, suspected an employee of the stripped almost $ 100,000 84 Bank of Montreal to be frauding it. Moreover, M^me Toso Saint-Denis had to help him stop the thief quickly.

The 84 -year -old lady, suffering from cancer who forces her to take several drugs every day, believed it thoroughly. Consequently,

100 % invested – Stripped almost $ 100,000 84

“I was in another world, completely. Moreover, I was 100 % invested in the story of the thief that had to be stopped, she said. Therefore, I was obsessed with that. For example, »»

At the request of the false investigator. Moreover, she took a taxi, went to the Longueuilloise branch of the BMO, where she emptied her safety box of everything that was there.

Returning home. Nevertheless, she recalled the false inspector, who told her to put everything in a white envelope, including her bank cards with the corresponding Nips, and above all, to mention anyone so as not to harm the investigation.

Another man. an accomplice wearing a fluorescent yellow vest, then stripped almost $ 100,000 84 rang at his door to recover the envelope. The surveillance cameras of the condos complex where Mr.^me Toso Saint-Denis captured his arrival. The images were transmitted to the real police officers of the SPAL after the scam was discovered.

In the space of a few days, the fraudsters emptied his current account, which contained a little more than $ 20,000.

They also paid $ 30. 000 on expenses on his credit card with withdrawals of $ 1,500 in Laval automatic counters, $ 2,500 purchases at Costco in Sainte-Foy and Pointe-Claire, and $ 2,400 payments to a SAINT-Léonard limousine service. When the credit card was full. the fraudsters bange down it by depositing a series of personal checks bearing the header of another financial institution, claiming that M^me Toso Saint-Denis had just bought two new cars and rent a chalet.

Thieves have grown the lacin up to a total of almost $ 100,000, according to M family^me Toso Saint-Denis.

Stripped almost $ 100. 000 84 – Stripped almost $ 100,000 84

The “Gas Dort” bank “

His son, Iann, says that the bank initially refused to absorb the loss, accusing its client for having provided thieves with its NIPs and double -factor verification codes.

The BMO then offered to mop $ 42. 000 “as a goodwill gesture”, after an examination of the file made by the Office for the resolution of the senior management complaints of the financial institution.

The family has not yet decided whether or not they would accept this offer.

“Yes, my mother gave her nip. Yes, she made an error, recognizes Iann Saint-Denis. But I stripped almost $ 100,000 84 can hardly explain that the bank was not able to detect that an 84 -year -old client. who has misery to walk and normally moves within a range of two square kilometers, begins to spend $ 7,000, $ 8,000, $ 12,000 for orders at Costco and a limousine service. »»

“Their algorithms is really anything. The bank sleeps for gas, ”he deplores.

“My mother has her whole head, but she quickly feels out of date. Double factor stripped almost $ 100,000 84 verification technologies, PIP, safety codes are great, but people like they don’t master them, “he argues.

The Bank of Montreal, without giving details for reasons of confidentiality, says it is working to resolve the situation in the context of its usual process. She points out that the single -use access codes transmitted by the bank as part of its safety processes. are accompanied by messages reminding customers to never disclose them to anyone.

“Note that the BMO will never contact you stripped almost $ 100,000 84 by email. text or unlined telephone call to ask you for sensitive information, passwords, PIN codes or verification codes [à usage unique] “Insists the institution.

Stripped almost $ 100. 000 84 – Stripped almost $ 100,000 84

A strong growth variant

This variant of the fraud of the false representative, where a crook claims to be a police officer, has been growing for a few months. SPAL has reported 51 cases since the start of the year on its territory. when it had counted 38 in 2024 and only 6 in 2023.

On July 13. police officers from the Sûreté du Québec arrested two young men aged 18 and 20 who had just fraud in a similar way by pretending to be a police officer in La Tuque, in Mauricie. They would also have asked their target to put their NIPs in a stripped almost $ 100,000 84 sealed white envelope.

The Ottawa Police Service also reported a series of similar cases involving a fake police officer from its service.

“People aged 65. over, including women (66 %), remain the favorite targets of fraudsters, and their victimization has been increasing in recent years,” said agent Mélanie Mercille, of SPAL. In 2024, almost 42 % of victims were part of this age group, while they represented 23 % in 2022 and 34 % in 2023.