Carman man tied to swindle says he’s ‘the original’ victim

Roy Scott’s name may be on the cheques that helped leave a Winnipeg woman penniless, but the man says he’s not a scammer — he’s a victim of the same fraud.

Scott, who lives in Carman, said he lost thousands of dollars after fraudsters accessed his TD bank account and credit cards in October.

It didn’t stop there. In the months since, Scott said RCMP told him somebody got hold of a legitimate cheque Scott had deposited into his account. It was then used to open two bank accounts and a credit union account in Ontario — all while leaving his name on it.

Through Scott’s account, the scammers were also able to access money from the account of his daughter, who lives with special needs.

“I’m the original guy who was a victim,” Scott said.

Cheque deposited 100 times

He’s not the only one. That same cheque with Scott’s name was recently used to help drain the funds in a Winnipeg woman’s bank account.

Lisa Taron said in a recent Free Press story she lost more than $2,500 after scammers did a quick succession of $93 withdrawals from her account.

The fraudsters went even further by depositing a bogus cheque for $100 21 times and then immediately drawing out $2,100.

The 62-year-old woman, who lives on a fixed income in subsidized seniors housing, said all the cheques bounced and the bank told her she is on the hook for the amount lost.

“If it wasn’t for the ‘bank of mom,’” Taron said Wednesday, referring to her 91-year-old mother, “I would be on the street.”

She said she is continuing to appeal the loss through the bank and is looking at filing a lawsuit in small claims court.

She said she is sorry for what Scott and his family have gone through.

“I never at any point felt there was a guy named Roy Scott out there scamming people — I just thought the scammer used him,” Taron said. “And to now hear he also was affected by the grievous negligence of the bank, is just awful.”

“That cheque has been all over the world.”

Scott said his problems started shortly after he did some work for a car dealership in Carman.

He said the dealership paid him by cheque and he used mobile banking to deposit it.

Scott said someone was able to get a copy of the deposited cheque — the bank has never told him how it happened — change the amount it was made out for, and deposit it. Thousands of dollars were then withdrawn.

He said the first cheque was made out for $5,000 and the second for $2,000.

“My bank account was compromised on Oct. 22 and within two to three weeks they were opening accounts out east,” said Scott. “Now it appears to be being used by somebody else for a different account.

“That cheque has been all over the world.”

Scott said he complained to the bank, as well as the RCMP. Finally, in December, a deposit of about $8,000 suddenly appeared in his account from the bank. He’s not sure if it covers all his losses.

His daughter is still out thousands of dollars.

“People think I’m involved in a scamming operation.”

Scott said he is still feeling the ramifications of having a cheque with his name on it being used for fraudulent activities, even though he has enrolled in two credit monitoring bureaus.

“I’ve had credit card companies come to me and say we’re reducing your credit or cancelling my card because you’re a security risk now,” he said. “People think I’m involved in a scamming operation.”

Mick Ramos, the TD Bank Group’s senior manager of corporate and public affairs, said while he couldn’t say how Scott’s account was accessed, the bank takes fraud reports seriously.

“While we can’t speak to details of any particular case, due to client privacy, I can confirm we’ve reached out to Mr. Scott to better understand his concerns,” Ramos said.

“Each circumstance is different and assessed individually.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca