Retiree who lost close to $650K in fraud scheme sues credit union and bank

For me missing in this article was [why] he did what he did.

Was the transfer for the "to good to be true" financial gain and greed took place of thinking?

I think anyone that manages to accumulate that amount must have some sense of money management. A little more info on what his financial expectation was would be nice.
 

Knight said:
For me missing in this article was [why] he did what he did.

Was the transfer for the "to good to be true" financial gain and greed took place of thinking?

I think anyone that manages to accumulate that amount must have some sense of money management. A little more info on what his financial expectation was would be nice.
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It would be nice to know. Could be he thought he was talking to a Microsoft technician because his PC was "hacked." That's a common one. And what happens is, the scammer gets permission from the "customer" to get remote access to their PC. While they're in there "fixing" everything, they're accessing the person's personal info.

They usually clean out the victim's bank or credit card account when the victim pays for services (that are free through Microsoft and others), usually behind a black-screen.
 
Knight said:
For me missing in this article was [why] he did what he did.

Was the transfer for the "to good to be true" financial gain and greed took place of thinking?

I think anyone that manages to accumulate that amount must have some sense of money management. A little more info on what his financial expectation was would be nice.
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I agree, I read that whole repetitious article looking for the Why.

I've heard it said that most successful cons are effective because of the greed of the victims. I'm sure there are exceptions, and I hate to see anyone taken advantage of in this way, but often common sense is tossed aside when hoping for an easy windfall.

The people I feel really sorry for are the old people who wire money to a "grandson in trouble," or any scam that is depending on the victim having a soft heart.

I don't know about Mr. Squire.
 

Della said:
I agree, I read that whole repetitious article looking for the Why.

I've heard it said that most successful cons are effective because of the greed of the victims. I'm sure there are exceptions, and I hate to see anyone taken advantage of in this way, but often common sense is tossed aside when hoping for an easy windfall.

The people I feel really sorry for are the old people who wire money to a "grandson in trouble," or any scam that is depending on the victim having a soft heart.

I don't know about Mr. Squire.
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That simply is not true. Most scams offer a service, such as removing viruses and hackers from the PCs of victims who have limited tech-savvy. These are the world's most successful scams, netting multi-millions a year each.
 
Della said:
Credit Unions are not babysitters, intent on telling you you shouldn't buy that motorcycle because it's dangerous and you'll hardly ever use it. Most of the work is done automatically by computers, there are no humans watching the money move and going, "Oh my that's a lot of money going to that casino, maybe we should call his daughter and tell her her father has a gambling problem." That would be wrong even if it was possible to hire enough people to watch every transaction.
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About 20 or so years ago, I took a road trip to Chicago. On the second day on the road, I got a call from my credit union saying they detected unusual activity on my credit card and wanted to make sure everything was okay. I assured them that I was just on vacation, but thanks for checking.

That's what credit unions used to be like before they became giant credit union behemoths.
 
Murrmurr said:
That simply is not true. Most scams offer a service, such as removing viruses and hackers from the PCs of victims who have limited tech-savvy. These are the world's most successful scams, netting multi-millions a year each.
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I'm sure that's true. It's been 30 years since I heard the other thing, before computers opened up a whole new world of opportunities for scammers.
 
Della said:
I agree, I read that whole repetitious article looking for the Why.

I've heard it said that most successful cons are effective because of the greed of the victims. I'm sure there are exceptions, and I hate to see anyone taken advantage of in this way, but often common sense is tossed aside when hoping for an easy windfall.

The people I feel really sorry for are the old people who wire money to a "grandson in trouble," or any scam that is depending on the victim having a soft heart.

I don't know about Mr. Squire.
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As my dear old grandfather Litvak said (just before they swung the trap), he said "You can't cheat an honest man. Never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump." --W.C. Fields as Larson E. Whipsnade
 
StarSong said:
I also have alerts set up on my accounts, but if I willfully withdrew large amounts to send it to some scammer, I'd ignore the alerts. I'm talking about adding a second (trusted) person to virtually look over my shoulder, and could say, "Mom, what's going on? Why are you transferring $50K to an account that's brand new to you?"
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I'm sorry Star. I didn't see the part about adding a trusted person until I went back and read your reply the second time. :rolleyes: That is certainly good to set up but unfortunately some older people don't have anyone they feel is trustworthy and some no one at all. So those of us who do are truly blessed.

Another issue is that unless it's a small branch and/or customers are well known to bank representatives, that personal service may not be forthcoming. Several years ago, my BFF's father's home health aid forged and tried to cash her father's check. What he didn't know is that her father was the former police chief of the town. The aid got busted right then and there because it was recognized that something was off about the transaction.
 
gruntlabor said:
I do not care for the word 'trickster' which apparently the LAPD like to use; sounds like we're talking about an adorable precocious child. I prefer the word 'criminal'.
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"Trickster" is my word - I can't be sure if it was theirs, as well - the incident with my FIL occurred roughly ten years ago.

For sure, they used the phrase "defrauded by trickery."

"Criminal" is an imprecise term; trickery or trickster more specifically describes the method of criminal behavior.
FIL was indeed "tricked" by the scammers.
 
Knight said:
For me missing in this article was [why] he did what he did.

Was the transfer for the "to good to be true" financial gain and greed took place of thinking?
Click to expand...
Murrmurr said:
It would be nice to know. Could be he thought he was talking to a Microsoft technician because his PC was "hacked." That's a common one. And what happens is, the scammer gets permission from the "customer" to get remote access to their PC. While they're in there "fixing" everything, they're accessing the person's personal info.
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This article explains it pretty well:

"The Manitoba Securities Commission confirms it is investigating and calls this a case of brand hijacking, which is described as (new window) "a sophisticated criminal pretending to be a well-known financial organization or bank."

Squire said the trouble began with an unexpected phone call he got at work on Halloween day in 2022, as he was preparing to retire from a 31-year career as an executive in the real estate sector.

He had been looking around for the best investments to make with his savings, or as he calls it, his retirement nest egg. He made inquiries with several banks and credit unions and searched online for the best rates.

Caller claimed to be portfolio manager ​

The Oct. 31 phone call was from a man who identified himself as a senior investment portfolio manager with a major Canadian bank, BMO.

After looking up the caller's name and finding it did match a senior investment counsellor with BMO, Squire decided to do business with him.

He offered an older Canada Savings Bond issue at a little bit of a higher rate, Squire said.

Although Squire had looked up the name of the man who phoned him about making the investment and found it was indeed the name of an investment counsellor, it turned out that was not the person on the phone.

Winnipeg man loses more than $600K in alleged wire-transfer fraud | RCI
 
If Squire dealt with or even had made verbal inquiries at the bank, it wouldn’t have felt odd to be contacted by the bank.

Advice I’ve been hearing repeatedly is to not contact/reply to a phone number or address given in email, mail or by outside phone calls. Look them up on the company’s site and call the business directly.
 
When my mother aged, she put me on as co-owner of her house and joint on all her bank accounts. I could see the monthly bank statements. Now there are ways I could have an alert sent for any banking transactions. That’s off topic for this fellow.
 
Banks usually hold large transfers for 5 to ten days. I wonder if this is part of his lawsuit. Even though it appears he was largely at fault, I’d like to see some traction to his lawsuit so the banks smarten up and invest more in setting up secure, helpful systems than to lawyers fighting everything.
 
Jules said:
If Squire dealt with or even had made verbal inquiries at the bank, it wouldn’t have felt odd to be contacted by the bank.

Advice I’ve been hearing repeatedly is to not contact/reply to a phone number or address given in email, mail or by outside phone calls. Look them up on the company’s site and call the business directly.
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We have to be suspicious and vigilant of cold calls and texts always Jules. Your sentence that I've highlighted in bold print is exactly what we have to do.
 
I’m not clear on the retirement nest egg.

If it was something similar to a 401K or company sponsored retirement plan it seems like moving the money would have more structure around it than a telephone call.

I remember having to open a brokerage account, completing some forms, which included my account numbers and the transit routing numbers of the sender and receiver, etc…

It sounds like this must have been some sort of personal savings. 🤔
 
Aunt Bea said:
I’m not clear on the retirement nest egg.

If it was something similar to a 401K or company sponsored retirement plan it seems like moving the money would have more structure around it than a telephone call.

I remember having to open a brokerage account, completing some forms, which included my account numbers and the transit routing numbers of the sender and receiver, etc…

It sounds like this must have been some sort of personal savings. 🤔
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Could be the Canadian equivalent of IRAs. :unsure:
 
So he had a Real estate investment career. Those in this era I generally dislike the most that are greatly inconsiderately unfairly skewering the rest of us, causing massive social problems to society while they spend their days in Palm Springs and Palm Beach hitting little white balls.
 
StarSong said:
This article explains it pretty well:

"The Manitoba Securities Commission confirms it is investigating and calls this a case of brand hijacking, which is described as (new window) "a sophisticated criminal pretending to be a well-known financial organization or bank."

Squire said the trouble began with an unexpected phone call he got at work on Halloween day in 2022, as he was preparing to retire from a 31-year career as an executive in the real estate sector.

He had been looking around for the best investments to make with his savings, or as he calls it, his retirement nest egg. He made inquiries with several banks and credit unions and searched online for the best rates.

Caller claimed to be portfolio manager ​

The Oct. 31 phone call was from a man who identified himself as a senior investment portfolio manager with a major Canadian bank, BMO.

After looking up the caller's name and finding it did match a senior investment counsellor with BMO, Squire decided to do business with him.

He offered an older Canada Savings Bond issue at a little bit of a higher rate, Squire said.

Although Squire had looked up the name of the man who phoned him about making the investment and found it was indeed the name of an investment counsellor, it turned out that was not the person on the phone.

Winnipeg man loses more than $600K in alleged wire-transfer fraud | RCI
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That's diabolical.
 
This morning I received an email and I thought it was interesting.

I’m still not sold on the idea but it appears that more options are becoming available.

Here is an excerpt.

“Did you know investors lose billions of dollars to financial exploitation and scams every year? Naming a trusted contact can help protect your account from financial exploitation and protect you if your health status changes. This individual won't have the authority to transact on your accounts, but rather will serve as your emergency contact.

What are the benefits of naming a trusted contact?
A trusted contact can provide essential information or verify your well-being if we can't reach you. Whether you're traveling, affected by a natural disaster, facing health challenges, or dealing with a financial scam, your trusted contact can help us stay in touch.”
 
Aunt Bea said:
I’m not clear on the retirement nest egg.

If it was something similar to a 401K or company sponsored retirement plan it seems like moving the money would have more structure around it than a telephone call.

I remember having to open a brokerage account, completing some forms, which included my account numbers and the transit routing numbers of the sender and receiver, etc…

It sounds like this must have been some sort of personal savings. 🤔
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I have my brokerage accounts set up so that money could only be moved directly from the accounts to either my checking account at another institution or to the one with the brokerage. So you may be right about what kind of account the victim had or he didn't set up his distributions for direct transfers.

Re thinking about adding a trusted contact (your reply #46 above), it's not an easy decision for many. I've seen instances where people who were thought to be completely trustworthy did some very untrustworthy things under certain circumstances.
 
I read a story today about a woman who lost about $20,000 in savings plus her daughter's college money. She said that when the scam call came in, her caller ID showed that it was Wells Fargo. Of course the scammer sounded like a legitimate bank official when telling her that they believe fraudulent activity had taken place with her account. They sent someone in an Uber to pick up her debit card, explaining that WF had partnered with Uber to handle these types of matters. Between whatever transpired over the phone and getting access to her debit card, they cleaned her out.

She was beside herself, of course when she discovered she had been scammed. Bank officials told her that since she willingly gave up her information (and card) that there was nothing they could do. She then called 7 On Your Side. They worked their magic and got her money restored to her account.
 
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