TD Bank announced the opening of an investigation into credit cards obtained by crooks who steal the identities of Quebecers by trapping their post office boxes with glue.
• Also read: [PHOTOS] Police investigation into identity theft: wave of fraudsters trapping your mailboxes with glue
“We are aware of an incident involving suspected fraud and understand the concern this may cause to those affected. We take this type of situation very seriously and are currently examining the facts,” confirms Caroline Phémius, director of public affairs at TD, in a brief email.
Isabelle Laroche, from Laval, poses here with her mailbox, which was sabotaged by fraudsters. They stuck his post office box after recovering a credit card ordered without his knowledge from TD Bank.
Photo FRANCIS PILON
The Journal revealed last Friday that a wave of scammers have been sabotaging mailboxes since the start of the month. They first assume the identity of a Quebecer, order a credit card without their knowledge and retrieve it from their post office box. Finally, the fraudsters stick the door of their mailbox closed to prevent victims from receiving mail related to their ruse.
More than a dozen of these victims told us that the scammers obtained the unsolicited credit card from TD.
TD ignore nos questions
TD Bank has not responded to the majority of our questions related to this type of fraud in Quebec. It was therefore not possible to know the number of victims or the solutions implemented by the banking institution to avoid these scams.
“We know how fraud can impact people and communities, and protecting our customers is a top priority,” says Ms.me Phémius.
Simon Rudolph, from Blainville, also saw his post office box blocked by scammers this month. A credit card was also ordered without his knowledge from TD Bank.
Simon Rudolph
Nathalie Prévost, from Brossard, deplores that her spouse had to physically go to the TD Bank to cancel the fraudulent card. The criminals also stuck his post office box after recovering it last week.
“The fraudsters were easily able to order it online, but we have to follow a security protocol to cancel it,” fumes the forty-year-old. We would especially like to know how the bank could let this happen. »
Burglary-free thefts
Francis Coats, security expert and professor at the École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), notes that most of the mailboxes targeted by the looters have no trace of a break-in.
Portrait of Francis Coats, security expert and professor at the École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS).
Provided by ÉTS
“There doesn’t appear to be any signs of a broken door or lock in general to open it. […] We can also think that the scammers had access to their physical letters to first steal their identity, then order the credit card with this information,” suggests Mr. Coats.
The latter, however, recalls that because of all the data leaks experienced in Quebec in recent years, “private life almost no longer exists”. The expert advises the public to lock their credit report for free at Equifax and TransUnion to protect themselves from identity theft.
Last week, Canada Post also confirmed that a police investigation was underway into this scam in Quebec.
