Victim's daughter points finger at banks, but the institutions say they have robust fraud protection
The daughter of a fraud victim is laying the blame on two of Canada's big six banks after her father was defrauded of over $1.7 million.
CBC reports that Ray Anholt of Victoria, B.C., was defrauded of his life savings over six months in 2024 at the age of 89. The fraud consisted of calls from fake bank employees, as well as counterfeit letters from government bodies which convinced Arnholt that he had to pay this money. His daughter, Jill Anholt, told the CBC that her father's two banks failed to adequately protect her father. Anholt was a customer with CIBC and RBC at the time of the fraud.
According to Anholt, the scammers impersonated CIBC's own fraud department, requesting his help with a nation-wide money laundering investigation. He was told to withdraw his cash and give it to a courier, who would keep it safe while the false investigation was conducted. They insisted that Anholt tell nobody to preserve the integrity of the investigation.
As Anholt began withdrawing money from his CIBC accounts, one branch manager questioned the activity and froze his ability to withdraw from an ATM. Anholt, however, was still able to withdraw cash in person. A branch manager eventually wrote Anholt a letter higlighting this unusual behaviour, however CBC reports that the letter never clearly warned him that he was likely the victim of fraud. They also report that CIBC was unable to say why managers did not contact the bank's fraud department or the Victoria police.
The CIBC branch manager did try to set up a meeting with Anholt in 2024, however Anholt declined the invitation.
The activity by CIBC eventually made its way to the fraudsters, who convinced Anholt to move his money to a new bank and withdraw from there. Anholt moved his money to RBC. Now a customer with RBC, CBC reports that Anholt was allowed to obtain bank drafts in the hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase gold, which was then given to the fraudsters. Accoring to the reporting, no RBC employee ever questioned these withdrawals.
When Anholt's daughter discovered the scam she contacted both banks on behalf of her father. CIBC cited their interventions and the declined meeting invite as evidence that it tried to warn Anholt. RBC eventually met with both Anholt and his daughter and has subsequently said that the matter is resolved. Neither RBC nor the Anholt family have been able to comment as to whether a settlement was offered.
Earlier this month the Carney government announced a new set of financial crime prevention policies and practices, aimed at adressing issues like this.
