Bank fraud - it happened to me

I absolutely love staying in hotels for work. When I worked as a school photographer, they would send us all over Southern Alberta to capture smiles, and work would foot the bill for hotels, mileage, and meals. It's sweet having a per diem. I'd use it to treat myself to things I normally wouldn't order, like a $20 salad. I'd then look forward to luxuriating in the hotel's pool and/or hot tub, if they had one, and simply enjoy the fun of having an uninterrupted evening.

I was recently on the road for work again, visiting Unison at Veiner Centre. I met the Medicine Hat team in person for the first time and had a blast! After the three-hour drive and a day's work, I was looking forward to my hotel time. I ordered a $20 salad to my hotel room (it was raining cats and dogs), and I enjoyed some terrible television (John Cena hosting an obstacle course gameshow - simply and delightfully awful!). I was about to head to the hotel pool, and I checked my phone before heading out. I saw three new emails that turned my blood to ice. The pool had to wait.

The next hour and a half was a blur of panicked calls to my bank. The three emails consisted of notifications confirming I had changed my bank PIN (I had not), changed my banking password (I did not), and the phone number on my account (not me!). After convincing the security team that I was the rightful owner of my accounts, they told me someone had figured out my personal information and attempted to transfer out most of my chequing funds. My bank stopped the transfer and froze my accounts, which, if you didn't know, is a bummer when you're travelling for work! 

As a communications manager, I make it part of my job to alert our community about new scams, fraud, and ways to protect yourself. CBC Calgary recently ran a piece on romance scams that I facilitated, featuring Unison's Elder Abuse Shelter. I know how to protect myself, yet, I was still scammed.

A manager on my bank's fraud team let me know that the scammer gained access to my account through my very own device. It's possible that despite my two-factor identification and frequent PIN changes, I may have logged into my bank account in a public space with insecure WIFI. It sometimes happens that before I make a big purchase, say, at Costco. I'll pop into my banking app quickly to see if I have enough to cover the transaction, and transfer funds over if I am going to fall short. I definitely know better than to do this, but sometimes, in the moment, especially when I'm with my entourage (i.e., my family), you can get easily distracted and make bad decisions. It's hard to remember if and when I did this, but the bank manager I spoke with to reconcile this stressful life event was quick to point out that it wasn't THEIR fault that someone gained access to my account. This is classic victim-blaming, and I reject the implication that it's my fault that I was scammed or defrauded.

I have a few takeaways from all of this:

• Don't open your banking app or bank account on an insecure WIFI connection. Only do your banking at home, or at the bank.
• Do change your PIN and security repertoire frequently, and don't share this information with anyone.
• When you are receiving a call from an unknown number, there are a few ways to protect yourself:  
  • Screen the call, if your phone offers that option.
  • Answer, but wait for them to say hello. Scammers are savvy and can record you saying "hello?" and use AI to impersonate you.
  • Report any theft or suspicious activity to the police. There isn't much they can do, but having a report can help with statistics and fraud in general, which may hopefully lead to additional resources against fraud and scams.
  • Have a secret security password with your bank that only you know, so they can confirm you're the rightful owner of your account.
    • I have gone one step further and set up security questions and answers with my family, so that if someone calls impersonating any of us, we will know.

This fraudulent experience was terrifying, and I'm lucky - my accounts are safe, I think, because I acted quickly. I know this sometimes can't be the case, and many friends shared their stories of fraud and theft with me that were far worse than my own.

In the end, I still went to the hotel pool to give myself a change of scenery after nervously pacing in my room for an hour and a half, and, my bank account is, hopefully, even more robust than it was before, with alerts for any transfers in and out of my account of $1 or more.

Fraud is a malicious and selfish enterprise that isn't going anywhere. The best we can do is to be vigilant and share our stories, and try to enjoy our fancy salads in peace.