The clothes change: the CRA, the police, a lawyer, a delivery firm, or your own bank. The payment request is the constant.
How it tends to unfold
You are told there is a warrant, a tax debt, a parcel fee, or a staff member who needs you to test a transfer. The caller coaches the words you should use if the real bank asks.
What to write down
- A demand for secrecy
- Payment by voucher, transfer, or crypto
- A name and department that do not check out
- A script for what to tell your bank
How we frame the bank complaint
Impersonation files are about the mismatch between the story and the payment, and about whether the bank’s questions were real questions or a box that had already been ticked.
Samir’s case
Samir, in Montreal, took a call from a man who said he was with the CRA and that a warrant had been issued over unpaid tax. The caller gave a badge number and a case number. He told Samir not to speak to anyone at the branch, and he dictated the sentence to use if the bank asked what the payment was for: a transfer to a family member.
Samir sent $9,800 from Desjardins to an account in a stranger’s name. The next day he called the CRA on the number published on its own site. There was no warrant and no file.
The complaint put the coached script next to the payment and asked what question the bank had actually asked. The transfer was paid back.
If you were handed a sentence to tell your bank, write that sentence down. It shows the payment story was not yours.
Client reviews
Diane P.
Fredericton★★★★★
The caller had coached me what to say. The bank refunded the transfers once that was in the file.
Samir H.
Brampton★★★★☆
I read the complaint twice before it went. The funds were paid back after the bank’s review.
June R.
Whitehorse★★★★★
I knew who was writing and who was chasing. The money was back in the account at the end of it.
If the review shows there is no realistic complaint, we will say so. You can still use the claim-yourself guide and go to your bank directly.
Hope is not lost
A first refusal is not the last page. Tell us the bank, the dates, and who you thought you were paying. The review is free.