'I'm crying with the bank': Ontario woman loses $86K to CRA scam
'I'm crying with the bank': Ontario woman loses $86K to CRA scam
An Ontario woman is out $86,000 after receiving a call from a fraudster claiming to be a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) investigator. They told her that her bank accounts were involved in a money laundering operation.
She said she was then advised to withdraw money from her bank accounts and deposit it through a Bitcoin machine, where it would remain in an account for safekeeping until the investigation was over.
That poor woman. Even if she hadn’t seen all the other red flags, this was the flare gun shot in the night sky.
Perhaps she has a mental disability
One of the most important things to remember about scams is that there's almost never an "act now" urgency with legitimate investigations/actions. Even in cases of crimes where people are arrested on the spot they have the right to talk to a lawyer before anything proceeds legally. The authorities are not contacting groups of citizens over the phone to tell them they'll be arrested/lose everything in 24 hours if they don't comply.
If someone is telling you that you need to do something IMMEDIATELY and you need reassurance, first off realize it's almost certainly a load of crap. Tell them to send their requests to you in writing, hang up, and contact your bank and/or the institutions that are apparently investigating you (CRA, Police, etc.)
Though she was convinced she was helping the Canadian government with its investigation, her husband and friends said something didn't seem right, adding she was likely getting scammed.
She was warned, and still went ahead with it anyway without doing the slightest bit of verification. This feels like the finance version of a Darwin Award
Its still tragic to see con artists steal money from prople with mental disabilities
Is it?
I warned a coworker years ago their wife was getting scamed. A friend form their past contacted them and needed help, with money. Being good christian folks they gave it. Never saw it again. A month later he was like yes it was a scam.
Then again, deadbeats asking for cash is an entirely different thing. You KNOW there's a good chance you won't see them or the money again, but for some people the conscience wins out.
I feel bad for her, but it does sound like a fairly obvious scam.
Everything I've read makes me think that a scam is obvious only to those not taken in and those who get the benefit of reading a news story.
This particular scam is a relatively minor variation on the "bank examiner" scam that has been successfully operating pretty much since the invention of banking. With the right play, even people familiar with the scam can be taken in.
She made multiple trips to a Bitcoin machine, Bitcoin alone should be obvious to most people. Mean it sucks for them and I feel for their situation but what government employee is going to tell them to go to a Bitcoin machine?
At the very least set up a new account at a different bank with extra safeguards until it's sorted out.
I'm blown away that people still fall for these. Always say that you'll call back to verify and get the number from the company's website or call the number on your credit / debit card.
It can happen to anyone:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/05/cyber-dunning-kruger/
Cory Doctorow didn't just fall off the back of a turnip truck. If it can happen to him, odds are it can happen to you.