Bank now willing to refund Edmonton woman thousands of dollars after apparent scam

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    Edmonton woman speaks out after losing over $7000 in an apparent banking scam. Hiba Kamal-Choufi has the story.

    It’s been eight months of stress and frustration for Edmonton’s Judy De Jesus after learning she lost more than $7,000 in an apparent banking scam.

    “I was disappointed and frustrated and disheartened because when you have a family, you have children, they’re growing up and you like them to have a good future.”

    De Jesus says in September 2024, someone with ATB Financial called to notify her about fraudulent activity on her account.

    She said at first, she thought the call from her bank was a scam, so she refused to give any information on the phone. But when she called her bank, they confirmed her money was gone.

    “There were transactions moving the funds to another account, so I said I didn’t do those,” De Jesus recounted. “And I said I did some e-transfers. One for myself and one for my brother.”

    Edmonton’s Judy De Jesus (left) speaks to a CityNews reporter about an apparent bank scam. (CityNews)

    De Jesus says after multiple meetings with the bank, they told her they wouldn’t be able to give her the money back, telling her she was scammed.

    The Edmonton woman has filed a police report, and is still unsure how the scam happened.

    “All of the funds coming from my part-time job,” she said. “They just go there. I was expecting the bank to protect my money. They said I did all of those transactions.”

    CityNews reached out to ATB Financial about the case. In an email Tuesday they said they could not comment on specific cases for privacy reasons.

    “ATB Financial is committed to ensuring the security of our clients’ information and banking,” a spokesperson wrote. “ATB continues to work towards the highest security standards and works closely with our clients that are impacted by online account takeovers to support each unique case.”

    An ATB Financial branch in Edmonton. (CityNews)

    Shortly after receiving that email, De Jesus says the bank called her and told her they’re willing to refund her the money.

    “She said, ‘oh sorry for the delay. And you know what, we will refund the full amount.’”

    Consumer protection expert Julie Matthews says scammers are out there to get people, saying this is an important reminder to increase your security, and get to know your bank’s policy and protections around fraud.

    “Although I’m not familiar with this particular case, there are just so many ways that people’s information can be taken,” Matthews explained. “So maybe it’s her information and maybe it happened even months ago or maybe it’s a friend or a family member and their accounts were hacked. Or maybe their email account was hacked and then anything those two people exchanged could be compromised and accessed by the scammers.”

    De Jesus says she’s speaking out to warn others of the headaches of police reports and back and forth with the bank, as she waits to retrieve the money.

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