London senior loses nearly $60K to phone scam

Kim Stevens, a senior living on a small pension in London, lost nearly $60,000 to a convincing phone scam.

"It's put me in a very difficult situation," Stevens said.

The London senior's trouble began with a phone call on November 2, 2023 from what she believed to be from VISA credit asking if she bought items in California.

When she told the caller that she hadn't, he said he was going to transfer her to the fraud department.

"That was the beginning of my nightmare."

Stevens was told her account was compromised and in order to fix the issue, the caller needed her personal information without logging to her online account for 'security reasons'.

"Which I agreed to thinking I was dealing with an anti-fraud investigator," she said. "I bought into his title."

For the next several days, Stevens was asked by the alleged scammer to withdraw cash to help with the investigation promising that it would be put back into her account.

It took almost two weeks before realizing the cash – nearly $59,000 was gone from her own line of credit.

Stevens contacted the police, anti-fraud groups, and her bank upon realizing what happened.

"I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do to resolve this," she said. "It's going to have life-long impacts on me."

Feeling that the Bank of Montreal (her bank) should have noticed the unusual transactions, Stevens said they should take some responsibility for the lost money.

As BMO has not agreed to pay back anything, Stevens says the final step is to make a formal complaint to its ombudsman.

Neighbour Sally Stenabaugh is trying to help by creating a silent auction, a donation drive, and other events with other friends and neighbours.

"She was so upset. It was obvious how stressful it was," says Stenabaugh.

"I do not want anyone else to be in this situation. If I can save one person from experiencing this scenario, I will do what I can to help others in this situation," Stevens said.