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NEWS Senior shares story of being conned out of $30,000 DAVID LEA dlea@oakvillebeaver.com An Oakville senior who was recently bilked out of approximately $30,000 by scammers is telling her story in the hopes others will avoid the same fate. Tears fill Wendy's eyes as she thinks back to how she was completely taken in by a voice on a phone that claimed he wanted to help her and others. "I feel stupid," said Wendy lowering her face into her hands. The local senior, whose real name is being with­ held, said the call came early Friday, Feb. 2. The man on the other end of the phone claimed to be a fraud investigator and informed Wendy there had been suspicious withdrawals from her bank account totalling $1,400. Over the course of the conversation the man convinced Wendy he had been able to retrieve her money and deposit it back into her account. He then said he wanted to enlist her help in catch­ ing the people who he claimed had attempted to defraud her and others. The man said he had deposited additional mon­ ey into her chequing ac­ count and told her to go to her bank, withdraw it and then wire it through West­ ern Union to locations in Poland. The idea, as the man explained it, was that when the fraudsters took this money, police would be waiting and would sweep in to make an a r­ rest. A look at her chequing account showed the extra money was there at which point Wendy agreed to help. "He had mom believing she was doing good and helping them catch these fraudsters," said Paula, Wendy's daughter, whose real name is also being withheld. "He had her believing this was kind of her duty." "I felt I was helping," said Wendy. The individual also told Wendy that due to the sensitive nature of the in­ vestigation she could not tell anyone about it, not even members of her fam­ ily. Over the course of 11 hours the man directed Wendy to various bank branches across Oakville where she withdrew thou­ sands of dollars at a time, at one point as much as $10,000 in one transaction. • GET CONNECTED What Wendy did not re­ alize was that the "investi­ gator" had taken control of her home computer and had used it to access her bank account online and transfer funds from her savings account to her chequing account. As a result when Wen­ dy withdrew funds from her bank, it was not mon­ ey deposited by this so- called investigator, but rather her savings, which she then wired overseas through Western Union. Wendy said only one teller really questioned what she was doing with these large sums she was withdrawing, however, the fraudster had been prepared for that. He instructed Wendy that if challenged she should say that her son was a contractor and the money was needed for home renovations. He even told her to say what part of the house was being renovated. Wendy said the man was relentless, calling her on her cellphone every few minutes to check on her progress. He would not even al­ low her to stop for lunch or to get a drink, but en­ Have a com m en t on th is o r any o the r com m un ity issues? Email us a t newsroom@insidehalton.com "This is w h a t these guys do for a living a n d they are very good a t it . " couraged her by telling her that four people had been arrested so far thanks to her work. Meanwhile family members were calling Wendy, who had been out all day, and asking what she was doing. Wendy told them she was OK, but that she couldn't talk about what was happening. The fraudster eventu­ ally lost access to Wendy's bank account when some­ one at her home shut off her computer. But things didn't end there. The man told Wendy to go to a local convenience store and use her credit card to purchase all the iTunes and Steam gift cards she could. - M ark Underwood, det. He assured her she would be reimbursed. Wendy purchased thousands of dollars worth of the online cur­ rency, which she then pro­ vided to the "investigator" to further his fictitious hunt for fraudsters. Wendy returned home a short time later to find her family worried and waiting for her. "She was exhausted and completely brain­ washed into thinking she was helping the fraud de­ partm ent catch fraud­ sters," said Paula. "She wouldn't tell us anything because she was told she couldn't." Eventually Halton po­ lice became involved and Wendy learned she had been scammed out of around $30,000. While Wendy says the fraud won't cause her to lose her home or anything dramatic like that, she noted there has been a ter­ rible impact. She says certain people in her life now look at her differently. Some have even gone so far as to question her mental capacity stating they simply cannot un­ derstand how she could have been taken in by this scam. Wendy said the "inves­ tigator" called back the following day and at­ tempted a repeat of the previous day's scam. She said he continued to press her to wire money even when informed she had told family members and called the police. "It didn't faze him at all. He just kept trying. He told me to just turn my computer on," said Wen- • See 'CHECK, page 18 1 P e t e r W \ts° n l l l i l N V E S T M E N T S W E A L T H M A N A G E M E N T S in c e 1991 Thinking of Retiring... Someday? Let's Talk. Visit our w e b s ite to sign up fo r a free consultation . P e te r W a ts o n M B A , CFP, R.F.P., CIM , F C S I J e n n ife r W a ts o n B.A. 220 R andall S treet, D o w n to w n O a k ville 905-842-2100 p e te rw a ts o n in ve s tm e n ts .c o m Oi| O akville B eaver | Thursday, February 15, 2018 insidehalton.com mailto:dlea@oakvillebeaver.com mailto:newsroom@insidehalton.com DAVID LEA • GET CONNECTED