www.cbc.ca
Open in
urlscan Pro
104.111.215.9
Public Scan
URL:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/gopublic/wire-transfer-fraud-1.5917139
Submission: On August 31 via api from SG
Submission: On August 31 via api from SG
Form analysis 1 forms found in the DOM
<form class="searchForm"><span class="search-autocomplete">
<div role="combobox" aria-haspopup="listbox" aria-owns="react-autowhatever-gn-search-autocomplete" aria-expanded="false" class="react-autosuggest__container"><input type="search" value="" autocomplete="off" aria-autocomplete="list"
aria-controls="react-autowhatever-gn-search-autocomplete" class="searchInput" name="query" id="gn-compact-search" placeholder="Search CBC.ca" aria-label="Search CBC.ca">
<div id="react-autowhatever-gn-search-autocomplete" role="listbox" class="react-autosuggest__suggestions-container" aria-label="Choose a suggestion"></div>
</div>
</span><button action="submit" class="searchButton">Search</button></form>Text Content
Skip to Main Content
MenuTokyo 2020
Search
Search
Sign In
QUICK LINKS
* News
* Sports
* Radio
* Music
* Listen Live
* TV
* Watch
* news
* Top Stories
* Local
* COVID-19
* Opinion
* World
* Canada
* Politics
* Indigenous
* The National
* Business
* Health
* Entertainment
* Science
* CBC News Investigates
* Go Public
* Shows
* About CBC News
* More
* Business
* Health
* Entertainment
* Science
* CBC News Investigates
* Go Public
* Shows
* About CBC News
Woman loses $340K in wire transfer scam — alleges 4 banks did little to stop it
| CBC News Loaded
Go Public
WOMAN LOSES $340K IN WIRE TRANSFER SCAM — ALLEGES 4 BANKS DID LITTLE TO STOP IT
A woman who lost her family’s life savings to scammers posing as Hong Kong
authorities says she was “scared to death” and that four banks should have done
more to protect her. A wire fraud expert says banks are obligated to make sure
customers aren’t exploited and should do more to protect victims.
SOCIAL SHARING
* FACEBOOK
0
* TWITTER
0
* EMAIL
0
* REDDIT
0
* LINKEDIN
0
TD, RBC, BMO AND BANK OF CHINA DENY RESPONSIBILITY, SAY PROPER PROCEDURES
FOLLOWED
Erica Johnson · CBC News · Posted: Feb 22, 2021 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated:
February 22
Vivien Zheng says TD Bank, Royal Bank, Bank of Montreal and Bank of China didn't
do enough to stop her wiring almost $340,000 to fraudsters in Hong Kong.
(Richard Grundy/CBC )
Vivien Zheng says she will never forget the phone call that led to losing her
family's entire life savings — $340,000.
The 43-year-old was rushing to her job, selling jewelry behind the counter in a
downtown Vancouver department store, when her cellphone rang.
The caller said she was an employee at the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver, read
off Zheng's driver's licence number, and told her she was a suspect in an
international money-laundering scam.
"I was very surprised she had my driver's licence number, because it was only
one month old," Zheng told Go Public. "I was scared to death."
Only it wasn't actually an employee at the consulate.
It was a scammer — the beginning of an elaborate wire transfer fraud that has
taken both her savings and an enormous toll on her mental health.
* Got a story? Contact Erica and the Go Public team
"I had suicidal plans," she confided, explaining that the May 2018 crime
affected her so badly she is only now able to speak publicly about it.
It's a crime, Zheng argues, that could have been prevented if the banks had
better systems in place to protect customers — and financial fraud expert
Vanessa Iafolla agrees.
"They're [banks] the last line of defence," said Iafolla, an assistant professor
of criminology at Saint Mary's University in Halifax. "A secondary check … would
go a long way to protecting people."
HOW THE FRAUDSTERS PREYED
The supposed consulate employee told Zheng she was transferring the call to a
Hong Kong police investigator, who was also in on the scam and accused her of
selling her bank account information to criminals.
The "investigator" told Zheng she would be arrested, sent to Hong Kong and
thrown in jail indefinitely if she didn't co-operate. He texted her a fake
arrest warrant, that included the photo from her driver's licence.
"I totally believed these are international Chinese police calling me," said
Zheng, adding that the call appeared to be coming from 110, an emergency number
in China similar to 911. "So I trust everything is true."
WATCH | 'I was scared to death,' Zheng says:
'I WAS SCARED TO DEATH'
6 months ago
1:19
Vivien Zheng explains why she believed the wire transfer fraud she experienced
was real. 1:19
The scammer also threatened to freeze Zheng's bank accounts for three years if
she didn't follow instructions, which included forbidding her to tell anyone,
especially the banks, what was going on.
"I started crying," said Zheng. Her mother had died and her father had sold his
sole property in China. He'd sent that life savings to Zheng so she could buy a
condo and he could come to Canada and live with her.
"I was in the process of closing that [condo] sale," she said. "So I was in
panic mode. I did everything they asked me to do."
Fraudsters sent Zheng this fake police warrant, threatening to throw her in a
Hong Kong jail. (Submitted by Vivien Zheng)
The criminals instructed Zheng not to go online, telling her they were with the
Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong — an actual
organization created to stem government corruption — and were tracking her every
move.
They claimed the ICAC would inspect Zheng's money and return it once
investigators were satisfied she wasn't part of an organized crime ring.
'I'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED SUCH A HORRIBLE CRIME'
Zheng moved to Canada in 2006 and became a citizen in 2010 but still remembered
what she describes as an authoritarian regime back in China.
So, in "total fear," she made her way to a Royal Bank branch on May 16, 2018,
and wired $60,000 to the fraudsters.
Over the next two weeks, she sent three more wire transfers to Hong Kong,
through three different banks, draining every cent her elderly father had saved
over his lifetime and sent to her.
But after her final payment, when no money was left to send, the fraudsters
disappeared.
"In my whole life," said Zheng. "I've never experienced such a horrible crime."
As the devastation settled in, Zheng replayed what had happened over and over in
her mind. Initially, she beat herself up for falling victim to the fraud.
"I did feel very shameful," said Zheng. "I didn't want to … share this story
with anybody else because I knew they were going to think I am stupid."
Financial crime expert Vanessa Iafolla says it 'takes 30 seconds' for banks to
ask more probing questions to prevent wire transfer fraud. (Richard
Agecoutay/CBC)
It's a mindset Iafolla knows all about, but says no one should think victims of
this sort of crime are to blame.
"She's not stupid," said Iafolla. "These people have refined their scams and …
understand how to exploit human weakness. Being afraid for your own safety and
being afraid for the safety of a loved one is a powerful motivator."
As time passed, Zheng moved from feeling shame to anger, as she questioned why
four major banks didn't do more to protect her.
THE BANKS' ROLE
Zheng filed complaints with all four, but each one denied any responsibility —
prompting her to file civil lawsuits against them all.
The banks have a very different view of the situation.
In its defence, RBC says it asked Zheng at the time who the beneficiary of the
funds was before wiring the $60,000. Zheng had been coached by fraudsters to say
it was her uncle, or face going to jail. The bank also says it asked whether
Zheng trusted the source of the wire instructions and that her banking agreement
protects RBC from responsibility for any losses.
BMO's statement of defence says Zheng was bound to disclose any "suspicious
circumstances" and, by her violating that agreement, it is released of
responsibility for her $32,000 loss.
The largest wire transfer — $178,000 — was made through TD Bank. In its legal
defence, TD says Zheng claimed (as instructed by the fraudsters) the recipient
was a business associate. TD also says the "wire agreement" she signed absolves
the bank of "any loss or damage" that occurs as a result of sending the money.
The Bank of China says in its defence that before wiring $69,000, a bank teller
asked Zheng what her relationship to the recipient was — which Zheng denies —
and states that "there is no requirement that Bank representatives confirm the
purpose of a wire transfer or that customers advise the Bank of the purpose of a
wire transfer."
Iafolla has reviewed documents relevant to Zheng's four legal battles and says,
for the most part, the questions asked by bank branch staff only dealt with the
correct processing of the transaction. She says even if Zheng didn't disclose
the true reason she was wiring the funds, banks should still have been able to
detect something fishy.
"None of the questions that I saw in the documents actually demonstrated … the
kind of probing that I would want to see, as somebody who is concerned about
financial crime," she said. "What was asked of her was very superficial and
mostly pertained to the correct processing of the transaction."
"The issue is, are those questions enough, knowing what [banks] know about
fraud?" Iafolla asked. "I don't see a recognition of that in those documents."
Fraudsters also sent Zheng this photo of a fake police ID, as part of their
elaborate plot to convince her they were Hong Kong authorities. (Submitted by
Vivian Zheng)
RED FLAGS IGNORED?
As Iafolla reviewed the documents, she noted a number of glaring red flags that
seemed to have gone unnoticed.
For one, she said, the sheer size of the wire transfers alone should have
prompted frontline staff to make more inquiries.
"The amount is incredible," said Iafolla, who says each bank had a
responsibility to have a probing conversation with Zheng.
"They're supposed to question you when you have a transaction that appears to be
suspicious. That's part of the legislation. So over $10,000 certainly that would
get reported for being a suspicious transaction."
The banks' current anti-fraud measures aren't enough, she says, and should
involve, "a real serious conversation — not one that ticks the boxes to say,
'Well, we complied, we asked you these discrete questions and so we've
discharged ourselves of our obligation.'"
WATCH | More thorough questioning needed, Iafolla says:
THAT KIND OF QUESTIONING IS REALLY IMPORTANT'
6 months ago
1:37
Financial crime expert Vanessa Iafolla describes what bank tellers should ask
customers -- and why it's important. 1:37
Zheng had also never before sent a wire transfer to Hong Kong, which should have
been another warning that something was amiss, says Iafolla, had they asked.
"You're supposed to look at patterns of behaviour," she said. "Certainly
somebody who lives here and doesn't transfer money out regularly, that's a
person whose transactions should be reviewed."
Immigrants may also be more susceptible to fraud, says Iafolla, if they don't
know how Canada's legal system works with international authorities.
"I think it would behoove financial institutions to protect people who are more
socially and politically vulnerable and who might not have the knowledge to
understand if they're being scammed," she said.
None of the banks appear to have questioned the destination for Zheng's
money, Hong Kong, even though it has been reported that the region is a
high-risk location for money laundering.
There were similar scams reported in the media months before Zheng was
targeted; fraudsters who tricked Mandarin-speakers into sending massive wire
transfers.
"I'm Chinese," said Zheng. "I'm signing a large amount of wire transfer money to
Hong Kong ... No alarm."
BANKS NEED BETTER PROTECTION TO PREVENT WIRE-TRANSFER FRAUD, SAYS FINANCIAL
CRIME EXPERT
6 months ago
3:03
Vivien Zheng lost $340K in an elaborate wire-transfer scam. Financial crime
expert Vanessa Iafolla says that could have been prevented if banks had better
protection for customers. 3:03
That same year, complaints of wire fraud in general were pouring into the
Canadian Anti Fraud Centre (CAFC), which received some 1,100 reports amounting
losses of almost $48 million. The year before, 2017, the CAFC received 1,260
reports totalling roughly $46 million.
The U.K. introduced new rules five years ago that involve training bank staff to
detect the warning signs of someone being scammed.
Under the U.K. Banking Protocol, branch staff who have concerns about a client's
transaction make an emergency call to police, who then visit the branch to
investigate. The latest figures available show that the initiative prevented
fraudsters from getting their hands on $33 million Cdn in the first half of
2020.
Go Public asked the Canadian Bankers Association why a similar program isn't in
place in Canada. A spokesperson declined to answer the question, saying in an
email that banks in Canada "work closely with law enforcement agencies and
authorities."
When Zheng reported the fraud to Vancouver police, a detective from the
financial crime department recommended that she contact the Hong Kong police
herself, claiming they'd had little luck working with authorities there in the
past.
STILL A SECRET
For almost three years, Zheng has kept secret the financial devastation — not
even telling her elderly father, fearing it would have a severe impact on his
health.
"Even just $10 means a lot to him," she said. "Can you imagine if I tell him
I've lost all the money?"
But the pressure is mounting to reveal the burden she's been carrying. In the
aftermath of the crime, Zheng lost her job from the emotional stress and has
recently not been able to make mortgage payments on the condo her father thinks
was paid in full using his savings.
* GO PUBLIC
Bank wires fraudsters over $800K of retiree's savings, despite red flags
* GO PUBLIC
Banks tell dozens of customers they're to blame for thousands of dollars lost
to e-transfer fraudsters
Last week, she came home to discover a notice on her front door — Scotiabank,
which holds her mortgage, is preparing to seize the condo.
"We're going to lose everything," says Zheng.
She's speaking out, she says, on behalf of countless other people who've also
had their lives turned upside down by wire transfer fraud, and to alert those
who could be close to the same fate.
"My purpose is to stand for not only myself, but all the victims," said Zheng.
"We deserve proper protection from the banks. They had a responsibility to warn
people of such a serious crime."
SUBMIT YOUR STORY IDEAS
Go Public is an investigative news segment on CBC-TV, radio and the web.
We tell your stories, shed light on wrongdoing and hold the powers that be
accountable.
If you have a story in the public interest, or if you're an insider with
information, contact GoPublic@cbc.ca with your name, contact information and a
brief summary. All emails are confidential until you decide to Go Public.
Follow @CBCGoPublic on Twitter.
Read more stories by Go Public.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Erica Johnson
Investigative reporter
Erica Johnson is an award-winning investigative journalist. She hosted CBC's
consumer program Marketplace for 15 years, investigating everything from dirty
hospitals to fraudulent financial advisors. As co-host of the CBC news segment
Go Public, Erica continues to expose wrongdoing and hold corporations and
governments to account.
* Go Public
With files from Kimberly Ivany
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News
Report Typo or Error
RELATED STORIES
GO PUBLIC
Bank wires fraudsters over $800K of retiree's savings, despite red flags
GO PUBLIC
Banks tell dozens of customers they're to blame for thousands of dollars lost to
e-transfer fraudsters
FOOTER LINKS
MY ACCOUNT
* Profile
* CBC Gem
* Newsletters
* About CBC Membership
CONNECT WITH CBC
* Facebook
* Twitter
* YouTube
* Instagram
* Mobile
* RSS
* Podcasts
CONTACT CBC
* Submit Feedback
* Help Centre
Audience Relations, CBC
P.O. Box 500 Station A
Toronto, ON
Canada, M5W 1E6
Toll-free (Canada only):
1-866-306-4636
TTY/Teletype writer:
1-866-220-6045
ABOUT CBC
* Corporate Info
* Sitemap
* Reuse & Permission
* Terms of Use
* Privacy
* Jobs
* Our Unions
* Independent Producers
* Political Ads Registry
* AdChoices
SERVICES
* Ombudsman
* Corrections and Clarifications
* Public Appearances
* Commercial Services
* CBC Shop
* Doing Business with Us
* Renting Facilities
* Radio Canada International
ACCESSIBILITY
It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians
including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges.
Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on
CBC Gem.
* About CBC Accessibility
* Accessibility Feedback
*
* ©2021 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved.
* Visitez Radio-Canada.ca
now
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBC Caffeine Player 17.16.1
INFORMATION ABOUT COOKIES
Please know that cookies are required to operate and enhance our services as
well as for advertising purposes. We value your privacy. If you are not
comfortable with us using this information, please review your settings before
continuing your visit.
Learn moreClose
0