Nanaimo pastor & wife lose $6K in banking fraud

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Scammers on the other end stated they’d detected a $200 charge from Walt Disney World in Florida and asked if Steven wanted to dispute it.

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Nanaimo pastor & wife lose $6K in banking fraud

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Sitting in his Nanaimo home writing sermons to deliver to his congregation over the coming weeks, Steven agreed, and confirmed his card number and Card Verification Value (CVV).

His trust in the process was boosted by the caller using bank-like language, including phrases like ‘please bear with me’, stating “once you’re in, it’s hard to know just by what they’re saying.”

Throughout the course of the phone call, the scammers then stated there were suspicious charges on the couple’s chequing account, which Steven also confirmed the details of.

“Because I was distracted, I wasn’t suspicious, I thought the guy was helping me. Even when [scammers started withdrawing money] that shoots off a text that says, ‘there’s this activity on your account, do you recognize it?’ And I said no, but he said, ‘you have to click yes, because it’s a test.'”

The text was legitimate: a security feature from CIBC stating suspicious transactions were taking place.

It didn’t take very long for $6,000 to be moved from the couple’s account to the scammers, along with some attempted purchases on their shared credit card.

While the credit card charges were disputed and ultimately reversed, money from the chequing account is gone.

“They won’t give us money back from the bank, because they said he gave them their numbers,” Joanne told NanaimoNewsNOW. “If you give out your private number, then their hands are tied, because the policy is then it’s not fraud, the cardholder is responsible for the use.”

The convincing nature of the phone call was suddenly broken once the money was stolen.

Steven said the person he was speaking with knew he was a pastor and asked if he would speak with a colleague who was “very excited because he’s a Christian, and he’d really like to talk to you.”

Not yet suspicious, albeit a little confused, Steven said he went into work mode and heard the man out, who said he was high and explained how his girlfriend had left him.

When Steven asked him if there were any sins he wanted to confess to, it was then the individual said they’d scammed them of $6,000.

Steven immediately hung up and rushed to the bank, but by then it was too late.

“You feel embarrassed, you feel angry at yourself. You feel some anger at that person. I feel bad because I’ve hurt my wife in the process of this too, it’s not just my account, it’s a joint account. There’s some real sadness.”

More than two weeks after the scam, the couple’s financial situation is still in limbo.

Joanne said the loss of the money doesn’t “ruin them”, but it’s still a significant pain both financially and logistically.

They’re still without complete access to their banking accounts, which had to be shut down and re-opened, and their replacement credit cards are still in transit.

“We’ve got automatic payments that come out and charitable donations that come out of the credit card, so none of those can go through now until we get it all sorted, and it’s still not straight two weeks later. Not only are we broke, but we’ve got a hassle of getting things back.”

Steven announced their situation to his congregation in the aftermath of the scam, in the hopes it could help others if they receive a similar phone call.

He’s also written an article for the church newsletter, which will update parishioners on the most recent developments.

Even despite all the embarrassment, frustrations, and anger, Steven said he forgives those who scammed him.

“They’re obviously skilled people. It’s sad they’re using their skills to hurt others, they could be doing a much more productive kind of work. I pray some day God will help them turn their lives around.”

Both Steven and Joanne report being a lot more fearful with phone calls now, even from legitimate sources.

CIBC’s fraud department had attempted to reach the couple in the aftermath of their report, calls which Joanne ignored as she felt it was another scam.

Time differences between Nanaimo and CIBC head offices in Toronto made timing a phone call to sort out the situation challenging as well.

Her advice to anyone receiving a call regarding banking information is to make sure you’re talking to the right people.

“If you get a call like that, even if it sounds urgent, hang up the phone and phone the number on the back of the card, phone your bank directly or go to the bank and physically talk to them. Don’t phone the number that’s in a text message or an email, it could be correct, but you don’t know for sure.”

Steven and Joanne reported their situation to Nanaimo RCMP, although there is little investigators are able to do.

Police recommend people regularly review information supplied from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, (CAFC) which publishes information on trending or recent scams.

Canada’s central registry for frauds and identity theft which works in conjunction with police across the country, the CAFC stated over 5,300 victims of fraud lost $188 million in the first three months of this year.

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