A BC couple who bank with TD say they’re speaking out after someone fraudulently transferred thousands of dollars from their account. Rene and Cecilia Diguangco say TD concluded that the person who transferred the funds had knowledge of the couple’s banking credentials, something the couple vehemently denies.
“Is this what we get from trusting this bank?” said Cecilia Diguangco.
In December 2024, Cecilia says she noticed several withdrawals from the couple’s home equity loan (HELOC) account.
She says they rarely use that account, but between September and October 2024, seven consecutive withdrawals totaling $17,000 were made. “We were both shaking and I said, ‘What are we going to do?'” Cecilia said.
The retired couple, who have banked with TD for more than 30 years, say they never received an alert from TD about the transactions.
“Usually, if someone sends us some money or we send some money to another person, we are notified, but for this transaction we did not receive a single notification,” said Rene.
The case was investigated by TD, but the couple say the bank refused to refund them, saying the person completing the transactions had knowledge of their online banking credentials and access to their device and password, all of which were their responsibility.
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However, Rene and Cecilia Diguangco say they have never shared their banking information with anyone. In fact, the couple say they don’t even know each other’s bank passwords. “She doesn’t even know my PIN and I don’t know her PIN,” Rene said.
Despite the fact that their case was reviewed by the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, Rene says that the conclusion was the same. “They’re telling us it’s our fault we didn’t save our PIN,” Rene said. “It hurts deep down. You can’t get it out of your head,” he added.
Duff Conacher of the nonprofit advocacy group Democracy Watch has been pushing for changes in the banking industry.
He says the federal government is not doing enough to protect consumers and wants better consumer protection, similar to the UK and Australia, where the burden of proof is on the banks rather than the consumer. “Australia basically refunds the customer automatically unless the bank can prove they did due diligence to protect the customer,” Conacher said.
The federal government recently passed Bill C-15 to help fight consumer financial fraud, but Democracy Watch argues that its consumer protections are still weak.
She wants to see changes to the bill that would require banks to immediately compensate customers for their entire loss unless the bank can prove to the Investment and Banking Ombudsman that they have adequate safeguards in place to prevent fraudulent account transactions.
“Banks created online banking, pushed everyone to use it by closing branches and reducing staff, and never put in place protections and safeguards to really protect their customers’ money,” Conacher said.
TD told Consumer Matters it could not speak about the Diguangcos case due to privacy concerns.
TD stated in part:
“In general, our reviews consider a number of factors, including whether the transactions in question were made using a known device or IP address.”
“Approach unsolicited investment advice with a grain of salt and take your time to research sources…”
The Diguangcos are now left trying to recoup the thousands of dollars they lost. Cecilia is now working and caring to help ease the financial strain on the family home.
“After that, we don’t want to be with TD anymore,” she said.
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