This is different from a scam you were talked into. Here, someone else moved the money and you did not consent.
How it tends to unfold
A stolen phone, a remote-access session, or a card or app payment you did not make. The bank may say you were careless with a passcode. That is a high bar, and it has to be evidenced.
What to write down
- Payments you do not recognise
- A new device or a new payee you did not add
- A stolen handset or wallet
- The bank treating it as authorised without explaining why
How we frame the bank complaint
Unauthorised payments are a different argument from a transfer you were talked into. The firm has to show you consented. A guess is not the same as evidence. We keep the two files separate.
Leila’s case
Leila’s phone was taken on a streetcar in Toronto on a Thursday evening. Overnight, three Interac e-Transfers left her Tangerine account: $900, $2,400, and $6,000. She had not added the payees. She had not approved the payments. She reported the phone stolen before morning.
Tangerine’s letter said the passcode had been used, so the payments were treated as hers. The complaint kept this separate from a scam she had been talked into. She had not consented. A passcode on a stolen handset is not the same thing as her instruction, and the bank had to show that it was.
The three payments were refunded. The letter that came back dealt with the device and the timing, which the first letter had skipped.
If you did not make the payment, say that in the first sentence and keep saying it. Do not let the file drift into a story about a person you thought you were paying. That is a different case.
Client reviews
Gordon W.
St. John’s★★★★★
The bank had called the payments authorised. After the phone was stolen, those funds were returned.
Leah C.
Laval★★★★★
The transactions I did not make were refunded. Nobody asked me for a password to get there.
Tom E.
Kelowna★★★★☆
The bank’s first explanation did not hold. The money from those payments came back.
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.