Toronto woman scammed of $25K after being contacted by fake Amazon rep

A Toronto senior lost about $25,000 after being contacted by someone pretending to be an Amazon representative.

Linda Dyment said that she thought the call she got asking to update her Amazon Prime account sounded legitimate.

“They said they needed my credit card information and I said, well why do you need it when you already have it?”

According to Dyment, the caller said Amazon wanted to make sure they had the proper information and also asked to check her bank account as well.

Dyment agreed and thought she was processing a $39 payment to continue her Prime account.

Dyment said days after the July 16 call she never gave it much thought, until she tried to use her credit card.

"It was declined" said Dyment.

Dyment became concerned and contacted her bank, Bank of Montreal, and that’s when she was told someone had used her information to do cash withdrawals over four days totalling $25,000.

"With all that happening in my accounts between Saturday and Tuesday, no red flags were set up" said Dyment, who added “I can’t afford to lose that money.”

Dyment said after she had a meeting with her bank she was told it was her fault because she gave out her credit and banking information over the phone.

"I can't even explain how I feel about this. This is my money and you guys (the bank) have the responsibility to keep it safe for me, so why put it in a bank if you can't look after it," said Dyment.

CTV News Toronto contacted Amazon and the company said criminals are pretending to be Amazon employees and said in a statement, “Scammers that attempt to impersonate Amazon put our customers and our brand at risk. Although these scams take place outside our store, we will continue to invest in protecting customers and educating the public on scam avoidance.”

“We encourage customers to report suspected scams to us so that we can protect their accounts and refer bad actors to law enforcement to help keep consumers safe. Please visit our help pages to find additional information on how to identify scams and report them.”

CTV News Toronto also reached out to the Bank of Montreal and Kate Simandl, Senior Manger, Media Communications, BMO Financial Group said “We have now concluded our review. Naturally, given the priority we place on client confidentiality, we cannot disclose any details of that conversation but you are welcome to contact them.”

“As a reminder, protecting your account is a partnership between yourself and the bank. We will never call you and ask for your account information. Taking proactive steps can help you avoid scams, protect yourself and your finances. Be mindful of sending personal or financial information and if you think you’re being scammed or notice strange activity on your account, report it to your bank immediately.”

When CTV News contacted Dyment she said she was relieved that the Bank of Montreal decided to return the $25,000 to her bank account.

“This is such a huge relief. I am so thankful, this is the best outcome that could have happened,” said Dyment.

Many of us receive texts and e-mails from criminals pretending to be with other services as well such as banks, the post office, or phone companies trying to get our personal information.

Amazon said it will never call you to ask for a payment outside of its website and with so many scams going on it’s good to be suspicious of anyone calling, texting or e-mailing you trying to get your information. If in doubt, don’t answer them back.