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Counterfeit Cheque Scams Overview:
- Who: Canadian banks are being told by experts to do more to protect customers.
- Why: A rise in job scams and fake cheques has seen consumers lose $8 million in the first nine months of 2021, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
- Where: Job and counterfeit cheque scams affect consumers across Canada.
A rise in counterfeit cheques and fake job scams has left business organizations and legal professionals calling on Canadian banks to do more to protect their customers.
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), in the first nine months of 2021, there were 1,400 job scams reported totaling $8 million in losses—almost twice the losses reported in all of 2020, CBC reports. The agency said the COVID-19 pandemic had led to an explosion in the scams, with a number of people out of work and looking for employment opportunities.
One of those people was 22-year-old Toronto student Ivy Hotchkiss, who believed she had got a job working from home as a data entry clerk for Aritzia—a women’s clothing chain based in Vancouver.
According to CBC, Hotchkiss’ new employer sent a cheque for $3,485 and told her to electronically transfer those funds to an office supply company to purchase needed equipment. After depositing the check and waiting 48 hours to make sure the money stayed in her account, she sent the e-transfer.
However, two days later the cheque bounced.
Hotchkiss discovered she was part of an elaborate job scam that included a fake Aritzia website, a fake employment contract, fake managers, a fake office furniture company, and a fake cheque.
“That was going to be my food and rent for the next month,” Hotchkiss told CBC. “It was the most panicked feeling I’ve ever felt.”
But what really frustrated Hotchkiss was the response of her bank. Despite filing a police report and complaint with TD Bank, the bank blamed Hotchkiss for depositing the counterfeit cheque and refused to reimburse her until advocate Go Public started to investigate.
Counterfeit Cheques, Job Scam Victims Should Get Help From Banks, Say Experts
Toronto-based consumer protection law professor Daniel Tsai told CBC reporters that banks had to do more to protect customers from fake cheques, but that it would take time and money to do so.
“It seems they’d rather be spending that to sell GICs, mortgages, and basically increasing their bottom lines,” Tsai told CBC News.
He also said banks should send customers emails and texts saying that cheques can take days or even weeks to clear as they do with mortgages and loans.
“Bank account agreements are so pro-bank that they absolve the banks of any liability,” he added.
The Better Business Bureau has also called on banks to warn customers about fake cheque scams. In a recently released report, the agency found job scams have been growing since 2017 and primarily targeted Millenials.
Better Business Bureau of Mainland BC President and CEO Simone Lis told CBC reporters that the estimated losses over the last four years are “crazy large” at $2 billion.
The report found that 36 percent of those scammed were misled by counterfeit cheques.
“In the bank’s desire to provide a service and get money to consumers as quickly as they want, it’s created this opportunity for scammers,” Lis told CBC. Financial institutions must “play a greater role in educating and saying, ‘No, that money is not there,'” she said.
Have you been duped by a job scam or counterfeit cheque? Tell us about what happened in the comment section below!
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2 thoughts onBanks Told to Do More in Wake of Counterfeit Cheque Scams
Yo fui estafado con una falsa promesa de trabajo y un cheque falso, el banco no ha tenido comunicación conmigo para nada pero me hicieron responsable por un cheque falso del cual no tenía ni idea si era bueno y mucho menos si tenía fondos la cuenta ya que la aplicación recibe cualquier documento
Fuí engañada con un cheque falso, soy estudiante internacional, saben a dónde puedo acudir por ayuda?