“My money is not safe with this bank,” denounces a father who saw $12,000 evaporate from his Bank of Montreal (BMO) account after having his phone stolen at his party aged 40 in Chile last January.
• Read also: Nearly ten cases of falsification of mortgage documents at the National Bank
“It’s a big amount, $12,000. These are my savings. They used my line of credit with an interest rate. I had to organize myself for my bills and my mortgage,” sighs Mahdi Machani, a Quebec engineer who has been floundering in a nightmare ever since.
“BMO kept saying to me, ‘Tell me how it happened.’ I told them: ”I have no idea. I’m not a pirate. I’m a victim in this,’” says the man who can’t take it anymore.
In January, Mahdi Machani flies to Chile to celebrate his 40the birthday with friends. One evening, he returns to the hotel and realizes that he no longer has his cell phone with him.
Mahdi Machani had his cell phone stolen while visiting Chile to celebrate his 40th birthday.
Photo provided by Mahdi Machani
“I went to see the manager of the establishment. He told me: ”I think your phone was stolen because this place is a pretty hot area in Santiago,”” recalls Mahdi Machani, pointing out where his state-of-the-art iPhone had just been located.
PayPal and the BN take action
Without wasting a second, he filed a complaint with the Chilean police and tried to recover his accounts in bursts.
Fido deactivates his number.
“PayPal blocked my account on the spot. They reimbursed me for a $3,300 flight in a few days,” he emphasizes.
“National Bank (BN) had a 1-800 telephone number. I was easily able to speak to someone in French from Chile. Back here, I was able to resolve this quickly at the branch,” he continues.
Accounts emptied
In the meantime, his wife asks him why he withdrew money from his accounts at the Bank of Montreal (BMO), Mahdi Machani replies that he did not withdraw a single penny.
“I tried to call BMO on their collect number and found someone who spoke Spanish,” he shares.
“I had a recent iPhone with a sophisticated six-digit unlock code,” assures Mahid Machani.
Photo provided by Mahdi Machani
Despite endless hours spent on the phone and long visits to BMO branches, Mahdi Machani still cannot get his $12,000 refunded.
“My money is not safe with this bank,” says the man.
BMO defends itself
Joined by The newspaperthe Bank of Montreal (BMO) expressed regret.
“This is an unfortunate situation and we will promptly contact our client to discuss it. Given the priority we place on client confidentiality, we are unable to disclose specific details about this particular case,” BMO Financial Group responded.
“Protecting customers against fraud is a partnership and we encourage customers to be diligent in protecting their online and mobile credentials, to sign up for BMO Alert to monitor their account for suspicious transactional activity as well as frequently changing their password or PIN,” it was added.
At Newspaperthe institution invited victims to contact their bank quickly and alert the police to recover the funds.
-With the collaboration of Philippe Langlois
Other issues with BMO
A customer forced to pay $200 more per week on his mortgage had the error corrected after an article in Newspaper.
Louis Nagy is satisfied to see that BMO was able to correct its situation, but remains bitter at having had to go so far to change things.
Photo Francis Halin
A former banker was defrauded out of $10,000 in his BMO savings account.
Archive photo, QMI Agency
While he was unemployed in December 2022, Fouad Allam suffered a first fraud of $5,000 by Global Transfer in his BMO account.
“The impact on my life was terrible, you can’t imagine!” Fouad Allam told the Journal.
Archive photo, MARTIN ALARIE
What to do if your cell phone is stolen?
If you have your cell phone stolen, you must notify your wireless service provider as quickly as possible to have it deactivated urgently, reminds the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
You must then report the theft to the police. The SPVM mentions that you must give the serial number of the device and the IMEI.
To get this IMEI, you can dial *#06# on your phone, the number then appears. We must keep it carefully.
To do in advance
To minimize the chances of having your bank accounts emptied, the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) also suggests having a complex cell phone unlock password, a quick lock when not in use, no PIN saved, closed web browsers and an application to locate the device and remotely erase its personal data.