Safe account scam

The caller already knows something about you. They say the account is under attack and that you must move the money yourself.

How it tends to unfold

The script is usually a bank, the police, or the regulator. They tell you not to hang up, and they stay on the line while you transfer to a “safe account” that is theirs.

What to write down

• A number that looks like your bank
• Instructions to ignore the warning screen
• A safe account in someone else’s name
• Pressure not to call the bank back on a known number

How we frame the bank complaint

The useful question is what the real bank’s own warnings said, and whether a large new-payee transfer should have been stopped or checked with a callback.

Ruth’s case

Ruth, in Halifax, took a call from a number that looked like her bank. The man knew the last four digits of her card. He said a branch in another city was trying to empty the account, and that she had to move the savings to a safe account while he stayed on the line. He told her the fraud questions were part of the attack and to answer them exactly as he said.

She sent $18,600, then $21,200, from BMO, to two accounts in other people’s names. When the call dropped she phoned the number on her card. The real bank had not called her.

The complaint set out the coaching, the two new payees in one afternoon, and the warning screen she had been told to ignore. Both transfers were refunded.

If someone stayed on the phone while you moved the money, write down the words they gave you. Those words are often the strongest page in the file.

Client reviews

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.