A group of more than three dozen Canadians who say they were victims of bank fraud is calling on the federal government to make banks more accountable for reimbursing losses, after facing denials from some of the country’s largest financial institutions.
Among them is Ralph Moore, an 88-year-old from Qualicum Beach, B.C., who lost more than $450,000 over 10 months after being drawn into an online investment scam. Moore said he was misled by a deepfake video of Prime Minister Mark Carney promoting what appeared to be a government investment platform. He carried out transactions online and in person at his local TD Bank, arranging transfers, bank drafts and payments to other people’s credit cards.
Moore’s daughter, Leslie Herrndorf, said she only learned of the losses after it was too late, and said the bank should have intervened given her father’s decades-long relationship with TD. After discovering the fraud, she had her father’s mental capacity assessed, and he failed the test.
TD acknowledged early signs that Moore was being scammed, questioning several transactions, warning him and his wife about scams, alerting its internal fraud and anti-scam teams, and briefly restricting his account. However, the transactions continued, and Herrndorf said she questions why the bank did not permanently freeze the account, contact his family, or alert police. In February 2026, after Moore had lost nearly all his money, TD closed his account, telling Herrndorf in a letter that it was ending the relationship to “prevent further financial harm.”
A TD spokesperson said the bank could not discuss Moore’s case due to client confidentiality but said protecting customers “remains a top priority through robust security, monitoring and education resources,” and encouraged fraud victims to report incidents to authorities. Royal Bank, the Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank and CIBC all declined interview requests from CBC’s Go Public regarding other customer complaints.
Other Victims Describe Similar Denials
Other cases cited include Karla Zwicker of Edmonton, a Scotiabank customer who said hackers stole more than $13,000 from her accounts and line of credit. The bank said it found no evidence her account was compromised and declined to reimburse her.
Ivanka Bubic of Montreal said scammers posing as RBC fraud department staff spoofed the bank’s phone number and convinced her to withdraw money from her line of credit and approve credit card charges. RBC reimbursed about $26,000 in credit card charges but held her responsible for $15,000 taken from her line of credit.
Deepak Kadaba of Mississauga, Ont., lost $3,400 to unauthorized withdrawals and debit transactions. BMO told him the withdrawals were completed using his banking information and said it was therefore not liable.
Alexandre Plourde, a lawyer and analyst with the Montreal-based consumer advocacy group Option consommateurs, said the organization regularly hears from fraud victims who are blamed by banks despite not being negligent. “I don’t think the law does enough to protect consumers,” he said.
Comparisons to Other Countries
Victims and advocates point to the United Kingdom, where since October 2024 financial institutions have been required to shoulder the responsibility for fraud losses except in cases of extreme negligence on the part of the customer.
Canada’s Finance Minister said the federal government is taking action on the issue but that further consultation is needed before any changes are made.
According to the government’s Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Canadians lost more than $700 million to all forms of fraud in 2025, and the centre estimates only about five per cent of victims report incidents when they occur. Figures specific to bank fraud were not available.
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