$10,000 stolen from his Royal Bank account: “It's causing me so much stress, I dream about it every night”

A Royal Bank customer is furious with her financial institution after she failed to block a $10,000 fraudulent transaction on her account, despite bothering to alert them within an hour of her flight.

“It shocks me. The service is so slow. It doesn't make sense,” he sighed in an interview Newspaper Lucille Petitclerc lives in the Quebec area.

“I dream about it every night. I don't sleep well. I want this, my $10,000. I'm 70 years old and I'm still working,” she says, shaken by this waking nightmare.

Fake employee

On June 10 a fake RBC employee called her to say money had been stolen from her and that she needed to immediately transfer $10,000 into her own account to prevent a so-called fraudulent transaction.

In mid-June, News magazine Serge told a similar story of Fortin, who also gave his double authentication code to a fake RBC employee who was supposed to help him, for the same reason.

“These are my two kids who robbed them of $5,000 that should have been theirs when I died,” the retiree from the North Shore denied.

Photo by Frances Hallin

However, to Lucille Petitclerc's shock, less than an hour later, she called the Royal Bank, the police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, but nothing could be done.

Is this a Royal Bank employee or ex-employee? Lucille Petclerk suspects teleworking may have been an explosion.

Photo agency QMI, Marcel Tremblay

“I felt that Royal Bank employees were getting rid of me completely. I want to pay back,” said the breathless man, who plans to send them an official notice and publicize his case to make things happen across the country.

RBC defends itself

Joined by News magazineRoyal Bank understands the stress of this type of fraud and reiterates the importance of spotting the signs of a scam.

“We encourage customers to contact us if they believe they have been the victim of fraud or a scam, as we consider each case on a case-by-case basis,” Royal Bank spokeswoman Jessica Assaf said.

The financial institution insists that under no circumstances will one of its employees ask for a one-time code to send money, download an application, access an account or participate in any meeting.

“If in doubt, customers should contact us by calling the number on the back of their debit or credit card,” Royal Bank added.

In case of fraud, you must inform the bank, the police and the Anti-Fraud Center, if it is repeated.

Provided by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

Five broad text scams this year

1. Employment: 10 victims ($85,256 lost)
2. Investments: 2 victims ($31,090 lost)
3. Bank Investigator: 2 victims ($28,868 lost)
4. Cargo: 1 victim ($24,000 lost)
5. Robbery: 4 victims ($11,200 lost)

(Source: Quebec data from Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, 1^er January 2024 to March 31, 2024)