An Alberta woman is warning others about an investment scam that drained her account of $233,000.
“My son just started a business, so we were going to invest and also help our children’s down payments on homes. We have five kids,” said Samantha Barnes, an Airdrie, Alta. resident.
Barnes wanted a low-risk investment and chose GICs - Guaranteed Investment Certificates - which are backed by banks. Last October, she googled the best GIC rates, and a website popped up. She says she typed in her contact information and a man, claiming to be with PC Financial, emailed her offering a higher rate. He sent her official-looking documents to sign.
“I looked over all these documents,” she said. “I searched the internet. I did all of my research.”
Barnes went to her bank and wire-transferred the money. The man then sent her a link to what appeared to be her investment information, but she said it looked suspicious.
She made some calls to track where her money went and says it turns out it didn’t go where she thought it did. It was gone.
“For it to come and really show up as I’ve been scammed, that really hurts and hurts my family,” said Barnes.
Const. Cory Riggs with the Alberta RCMP says the GIC scam isn’t new, but it is sophisticated. He says criminals create professional-looking websites that may seem legitimate. This entices people to provide a method of contact.
“And then at that point, it turns more into a phishing scam, where they pose as another business or government official,” said Riggs.
“Then they gain their trust so that they send money over to them in the form of investment or to pay a fine or something of that nature.”
Barnes isn’t the only victim of the GIC investment scam – a senior from Oakville, Ont. lost $750,000.
“They sent me a graph showing that in one year I was going to come up with $798,000,” said Walter Yamka.
“I’ve got zero. Nothing.”
Ana Seara from Ontario says her brother, from Kitchener, Ont. lost $900,000 from the scam.
“When he went to the bank to send that wire transfer, he was doing it wholeheartedly believing that he was going to the right place,” said Seara.
“I just felt so bad for him. He worked so hard for that money. It was his sort of retirement saving as well.”
A warning of the GIC scam is now on PC Financial’s website.
In a statement, PC Financial said it “does not have representatives who promote or sell GICs in-person, over the phone or through email. We urge everyone to exercise caution when dealing with unverified requests for any personal information, including Social Insurance Numbers, or banking details.”
Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, says banks need to do more to protect their customers from scams.
“The banks have been completely negligent in setting up an online banking system and not putting in place the safeguards and procedures of due diligence to prevent these kind of fraudulent, rip offs of their customers,” he said.
Riggs adds people also need to remain vigilant and if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
“The best course of action is just to do your best not to be a victim,” he said.
“I know that’s easier said than done, but just taking a few extra minutes to make sure that who you’re talking to is who it is, or the website you’re going to is the correct website. Those things can go a long way in stopping you from being a victim in the first place.”
Barnes has filed a report with the RCMP and retained a lawyer.
She believes that her bank needs to be held accountable and should’ve known it was a scam because the money that was transferred didn’t go to PC Financial.
