Gabriel Landry experienced a lot of frustration and stress after falling victim to a bank fraud that cost him $26,000. The Bertrand resident had to wait two months before learning that UNI Financial Cooperation would reimburse him.
Gabriel Landry thought he would lose the fruits of his five years of savings: $26,000.
The 24-year-old auto mechanic raised this amount by making sacrifices and living with his parents in Trudel on the Acadian Peninsula. He wanted to buy a house in Bertrand with his partner. He also started a purchase process at the beginning of September.
However, on the 11th day of this month, around 6 p.m., he received a hidden call.
“I answered,” Mr. Landry said. The man posed as an employee of UNI’s fraud department. He knew my name and phone number. He was polite and had a Quebecois or New Brunswick accent.”
The unknown man claimed that a person had logged into the young man’s account in Toronto. He advised him to block access to the money.
“I said OK,” Mr. Landry recalled. But he asked me to repeat a number sent via text to make sure it was really me. It was an authentication message from UNI. I repeated the number. I didn’t ask any questions. Only then did I have doubts.”
Too late. The next day, his financial advisor informed him that he had been the victim of a scam and UNI had blocked his account.
High fraud rate
“He told me I would get a call from the fraud department that same day,” Mr. Landry recalled. I never received that call, not even the next day. When I asked if this was normal, my financial advisor said the number of fraud cases was high and it could take some time.”
The UNI member waited two months before learning Wednesday he would receive a refund. However, he took several steps to obtain information from the banking institution beforehand.
He went to the cashier to get a new ATM card and find out the balance on his account. There he realized he had lost $26,000, which he had transferred in multiple payments ranging from $400 to $8,500 to credit cards and Gigadat, an online banking solutions company.
“I called my mother, almost crying,” Mr. Landry said. It was as if the hardships I had endured had come to nothing.”
A lot of fear
“He was discouraged,” Cindy Richardson remembers. UNI had given him no information, no steps for him to follow. I saw on the institution’s website that he had to go to the police.”
His son did that. He then went to the UNI headquarters in Caraquet to obtain information. He had the phone number for the co-op’s fraud department, which he called several times to no avail before being called back.
“They told me that they had my file and that I would have to wait,” Mr. Landry complained on Monday.
The full-time mechanic had to go to the cash register for two months to check his account balance. His mother also had to take out a loan to pay the deposit for the purchase of their house, which he moved into in October.
“It was pretty stressful,” Ms. Richardson said. I’ve never slept so badly in my life!”
“I had trouble at work because it was always on my mind,” Mr. Landry breathed. Therefore, I was prone to mistakes. It bothered me the whole time.”
Fake bank investigator
UNI communications director Ginette Hébert declined to comment on a specific case for confidentiality reasons.
“Rest assured that we support the member,” she assured. We take such situations seriously by opening a file with the details, facts and evidence, in addition to advising the individual to report the fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.”
Ms. Hébert also highlighted that fraud and scams are increasingly impacting the financial industry in Canada.
Mr. Landry is the victim of what the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center is calling a bank-investigator-style fraud.
In 2021, the federal service received 1,600 reports of this type of crime, each time causing an average of $6,400 in damages. He says he only receives information on 5 to 10% of fraud cases committed against Canadians.
Fake bank investigator scams have led to several articles recently, particularly about a Kedgwick resident who testified to Radio-Canada.
The Canadian Anti-Fraud Center recorded $531 million in fraud in 2022. In 2021 the statistics stood at $379 million
The advice of UNI
UNI-Financial Cooperation advises its members to avoid disclosing personal information such as debit card number, date of birth or social security number over the telephone, unless they are calling the banking institution and are required to identify themselves.
“It is not our practice to ask our members by email or other means to obtain confidential information about them,” recalls UNI on its website.