Saskatoon woman loses $10,000 after scammers hijack iPad, trick her into withdrawing cash

A Saskatoon senior is out $10,000 after an elaborate financial scam, and she’s warning the public to be alert for this new type of trick.

Jeannette Roy is usually able to spot a scam, but an alert that came on her iPad on Tuesday morning with voice instructions seemed legitimate.

“It told me I was being compromised,” said Roy. “It said do not use any of my electronic devices and there was a number to call Apple support.”

A male voice calling himself James Watson claiming to be Apple support said her account was being hacked, and told her a shocking lie.

“I was being hacked by Russian hackers who were trying to access $5,750 from my account to buy child pornography,” Roy told CTV News.

The fake Apple support worker asked which bank she used so that he could connect her to the “fraud investigators” via a secure line.

Then a person posing as a TD Bank fraud investigator stayed on the line with Roy while he convinced her to take her money out of her bank account so the hackers couldn’t access it.

“He says don’t speak with anyone because we don’t know whether it was someone at the bank,” Roy said, noting that bank tellers did ask her what the withdrawal was for.

Scared by what scammers told her, Roy says she just told the tellers she needed the money.

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After taking money out at the till, an ATM and a second branch, at the behest of the scammers, Roy deposited the money into a Bitcoin ATM machine at a nearby convenience store.

By the time she got home exhausted, she realized something was off and called her bank and the police.

But it was too late, so she’s trying to get the word out to warn others.

“I had never heard anything on the media about the particular situation I encountered on Tuesday, and people need to be aware of that situation,” she said.

A statement from TD Bank says tellers are there to help customers.

“When completing a transaction, it’s important to always be honest with branch staff as they’re the first line of defence in helping protect your money,” the statement said.

Your bank would never instruct you to lie or keep a secret. If a customer believes they’ve fallen victim to a scam or fraud, they should report it immediately to their financial institution, the police and Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.”

The Saskatoon Police Service urges the public to be vigilant against possible fraud.

“Fraudsters are very good at what they do,” said police spokesperson Joshua Grella. “They leverage urgency and panic to coerce the victim into complying with their requests and demands. It’s important to remember that you are the one in control of that call or email, and not to be coerced into feeling that sense of urgency and panic, and maintaining control.”

Grella suggests if you are suspicious of a phone call or email, try to ask questions.

“Ask important information and verify that information,” he said. “And in fact, you can hang up and call the financial institution or the person that might be in question and verify that directly.”

Grella says anything involving cryptocurrency should be a red flag.

“Relevant to crypto, we would caution against using that form of currency unless you’re very familiar with It,” he said. “Investigations can be done into cryptocurrency fraud, however they often lead to wallets located outside of Canada, which then involves outside agencies and makes the investigation that much more difficult.”

While Roy admits she felt "stupid," staff at the bank reassured her.

“She said, it’s just like you were abused,” said Roy. “And I said, yes I was, I just don’t have any bruises to show for it.”

The whole ordeal has left a sour taste in her mouth.

“This whole experience has taught me, you do not trust anyone,” said Roy. “You just cannot trust anybody. And it’s a terrible thing in our society that we have to live like that.”