A B.C. lady says she’s shocked how somebody was in a position to take out a mortgage and add her identify with out her permission.
“I’m mind-boggled that you would be able to open up a mortgage in a totally totally different province and never even be current,” Hailey Leo advised Consumer Matters.
The Langley, B.C. resident says her nightmare started on Feb. 14, 2025 when she logged into her CIBC account and found a few of her private data had modified.
“Not my identify, however my handle, the cellphone numbers – there have been three totally different cellphone numbers added. The handle was modified to Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta,” stated Leo.
Leo says she acquired no notification or warning from her financial institution. When she contacted CIBC, she stated she was related to its fraud division, the place employees members had frozen her account.
After ready a number of hours, Leo says CIBC opened a brand new checking account in her identify with reassurances the problem was resolved. “They stated the whole lot was corrected and I ought to be positive to go,” stated Leo.
Nevertheless, 11 days later, Leo says she had points once more along with her CIBC account. “I attempted to log into my on-line banking to test my stability and I can’t log in. Once more, no notifications, no calls, no emails, no nothing,” stated Leo.
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Much more alarming, Leo says CIBC knowledgeable her somebody had opened a mortgage in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. together with a private line of credit score. Leo says her identify was additionally on the mortgage.
“They (CIBC) find yourself telling me that the entire data has modified from the day I got here in initially on the 14, again to the very same particular person, the very same handle, besides this time they took out a $260,000 mortgage below my identify,” she stated.
“I didn’t apply for a mortgage. How did this occur?”
In an emailed assertion, CIBC advised Shopper Issues:
“We seemed into this matter and might affirm no fraud or id theft occurred. This was a processing subject restricted to a single account which we’re working to resolve.”
Shopper Issues referred to as the quantity listed on Leo’s account. The one who answered the decision acknowledged her identify was additionally ‘Hailey Leo’ and stated she lived in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. She additionally advised Shopper Issues she had been coping with points with CIBC relating to an account with a mortgage.
“I want they may give me a proof for simply shutting down the account. That’s all they defined it as. They advised me that it was fraud,” Leo stated.
Cybercrime advisor Claudiu Popa says CIBC’s response does little for client confidence. “It’s only a assertion made off the cuff and the financial institution doesn’t understand such an announcement solely creates extra questions. It solutions no questions in any respect and it’ll serve to fret and lift issues amongst different prospects on the very least if not different banking prospects throughout Canada,” he stated.
Popa says threats to private banking data have gotten extra refined. “We’re seeing conditions even the place multi-factor authentication is being compromised today. It’s as much as the banks to teach the general public not simply to say you’re answerable for defending your password and your account.”
Popa additionally recommends customers who discover themselves in an identical scenario to Leo’s case or have their banking data compromised, ought to act swiftly and never anticipate an investigation to happen from the financial institution as a result of it might take weeks or months.
He suggests contacting the Ombudsman For Banking Providers and Investments, the Workplace of the Privateness Commissioner of Canada, and the Monetary Shopper Company of Canada. Popa additionally says getting an announcement from the financial institution to clear your identify to make sure your credit standing is in good standing can also be necessary.
Haily Leo in B.C. says she’s been advised by CIBC an investigation is underway. Nevertheless, she says she has misplaced belief in CIBC and has since taken her enterprise elsewhere – transferring her funds to a different competitor.
“My largest factor proper now’s safety. Is all of our data protected?” stated Leo.
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