Ontario man shocked to find he owed $5,700 after losing credit card

 

An Ontario man was shocked to find he was on the hook for $5,700 in fraudulent charges made to his lost credit card.

"If it can happen to me, then it can happen to anybody," said Vincent Woo of Richmond Hill.

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Woo had ordered lunch in a food court when he said he must have accidentally left his credit card behind.

About three hours later, he got a message that said his card had been blocked due to strange activity.

"I got an email from Neo Financial saying my account was frozen because of suspicious transactions," said Woo.

Woo was told there were $5,700 in fraudulent charges on his credit card that had taken place at three Shoppers Drug Mart stores within three hours of him losing his card.

The transactions were all made using a personal identification number (PIN). Since his PIN was used, Woo was told he must have given that information out, and as a result, he would not get his money reimbursed.

"I can 100 per cent say that I never gave out my PIN, and I never visited those Shoppers Drug Marts," said Woo.

Ian Bednowitz, General Manager of Norton Identity, said if you lose your wallet or credit card, contact your bank and credit card companies, check for unusual activity, change your passwords, get identity theft protection and file a police report.

Bednowitz said that criminals who commit fraud work very fast when they find a lost car or take someone's wallet.

"These bad actors act incredibly quickly," said Bednowitz.

Bednowitz advised making a list of everything in your wallet, trying to leave as much as possible at home and not carrying your social insurance number.

"Ideally, you don't want to have a long itinerary; you want to carry as little as possible with you to limit your vulnerability if you do lose something," said Bednowitz.

A spokesperson for Neo Financial told CTV News in a statement that it investigates all potential instances of fraud or suspicious activity reported by its customers.

"In this case, we can confirm that the charges have been removed from the customer's account, and they will not be required to make any payments related to these charges," the statement reads.

"This decision has been communicated to the customer. We urge all customers to exercise caution against card theft and scams, and to immediately freeze a lost or stolen card through the Neo app."

So, Woo will not have to pay the $5,700 in fraudulent charges, which is good news for him.

"This is such a relief," said Woo.