Ray Anholt of Victoria recently marked his 90th birthday, but says there was little to celebrate — being the victim of one of the largest-ever bank investigator scams reported in Canada, he was left virtually penniless.
Over six months last year, Anholt lost his life savings — almost $1.7 million.
The scam involved phoney bank employees, fake official letters from various government bodies and politicians, piles of cash, massive bank drafts, gold bars and couriers — but the most unbelievable part of the elaborate ordeal is that two major banks allowed a vulnerable senior to empty his accounts despite red flags, says Anholt’s daughter.
“They watched this 89-year-old man pull out every cent,” Jill Anholt told Go Public, her jaw taut with anger.
And while Ray's loss was massive, he has plenty of company.
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Last year alone, Canadians lost more than $643 million to bank fraud — an increase of nearly 300 per cent since 2020. As scams get increasingly sophisticated, experts say our financial institutions lag behind other countries with better protections.
Ray Anholt and his daughter Jill review the fake documents that scammers sent to convince him he was part of a major money-laundering investigation.
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