A Winnipeg woman says elderly people and those living on low income must increasingly watch out for fraudsters after she fell victim to a scam.

Lisa Taron, 62, said she lost thousands of dollars after scammers gained access to her account about two months ago, after she received a call from someone pretending to work for TD Bank’s fraud department.

Taron, who lives in a subsidized apartment at a low-income seniors community, said she could have ended up on the streets if her mother had not stepped in while TD refused to refund her the money.

“I had to graciously call my 91-year-old mother, the ‘bank of mom,’ and get her to bail me out,” she said.

“It pains me because this is happening all across Canada.… It’s happening to single moms, seniors, people that are living on the line.”

Taron said she got the call on Feb. 12. She said the display showed it was from TD, and that she was greeted by someone who sounded very professional once she picked up the phone.

The person told her the bank wanted to check in with her about a potentially fraudulent transaction.

“He put me on hold. It’s the exact same on-hold music as a TD Bank, which is brutal. I don’t know if you’ve heard it,” Taron said, adding that he then shared details that made her think the call was from the bank, like the name on the last check she’d received.

“He said, ‘OK, we’re going to send you a text and please answer yes and that will allow us to know that, yes, this is in fact your account’.… of course, I’m like yeah.'”

The scammers emptied out the account, also using the bank’s mobile app to deposit the same $100 cheque into her account 21 times, Taron said.

Under Canadian regulations, banks must make up to $100 of funds deposited by cheque available right away.

The scammers withdrew the money before the cheques bounced, leaving Taron with a negative $2,100 balance in her bank account. Altogether, the woman said she lost $4,650 which the bank has so far declined to refund.

Still waiting to get money back

“After 20 business days of waiting, [the claim] was declined,” she said.

The appeal process “has surpassed 10 business days and I am still waiting, and TD has done nothing.”

TD Bank spokesperson Mick Ramos said in a statement the bank can’t comment on specifics due to client privacy, but that it is looking into the matter.

Ramos said the bank will never ask anyone for one-time passcodes sent to mobile or email addresses, and that people should not share the code they get with anyone.

He said call IDs can be faked, and anyone who receives a suspicious call or text from someone claiming to be their bank should verify it by calling the number on the back of their TD card.

Taron said the bank should have taken more measures to prevent the fraud, saying among other things, that it should have been able to identify that the scammers deposited the same cheque multiple times, and that it was made out to a different person.

She said that advances in artificial intelligence only make these types of scams more effective.

“It’s slick, but … this is not like Bob and Marie’s bank that you’re using: this is an international bank,” Taron said. “They may want to step up their cyber package.”