VANCOUVER — A Vancouver senior who was scammed by someone posing as his son has filed a lawsuit against the con man after forcing Scotiabank to reveal his identity, although it took more than a year after he lost the money.
Kiet Ma, 70, a retired pastor, was scammed by someone posing as his son and using a text message to ask for $8,390.50 for an emergency, according to a lawsuit suing the alleged thief for return of the money.
The request in April 2023 came in on a number unknown to Ma, but the scammer explained it by saying his phone wasn’t working and told his “dad” he was using another phone to text him, the claim said.
Ma knew his son was buying a house. He and his wife had given him money to assist in the purchase, so the request wasn’t unusual. He called the text number and it was not answered by a random stranger, so that confirmed in his mind the number was legit, it said.
Ma immediately withdrew the money from his bank branch and deposited it in the Scotiabank branch in the same neighbourhood, using the account number given to him in the text. He immediately sent a photo of the deposit receipt to his son’s WhatsApp number and it then became clear he had been swindled, the claim said.
He immediately returned to the Scotiabank branch and the manager put a freeze on the funds but he wasn’t able to return them to Ma without an order from police, it said.
Vancouver police investigated but told him they couldn’t help return his money since the phone was a spoof number and not linked to a known person, the claim said. The constable said police likely wouldn’t be able to find the suspect nor bring the matter to court.
The officer did email the Scotiabank manager and told him it was clear Ma had been a victim of fraud in an attempt to have the transaction reversed, the claim said.
But the manager said he was bound by the bank’s policies and he couldn’t proceed without a court order, according to the lawsuit.
In July 2023, Ma sued Scotiabank in small claims court to try to force it to return his money but the court dismissed the claim in November, saying it didn’t have the jurisdiction to hear the case.
Ma then filed a request to the sa国际传媒 Supreme Court to compel Scotiabank to disclose the account holder’s name, address, phone number, date of birth, account status, account balance and statement of transactions.
About a month later, the court granted the order and a month after that, Ma received the documents naming the man.
Ma used the details to file a lawsuit against Nikhil Thuniki, whose last known address was in North York, Ont., for return of the funds and an order directing Scotiabank to pay out the funds from Thuniki’s account, if available, the lawsuit said.
Similar orders have been used to compel social media companies such as YouTube, Facebook and Reddit to provide details of the entities behind the accounts that are anonymously harassing or trolling people online.
Ma’s lawsuit cites previous cases stating financial institutions are liable for funds they make available to someone other than the person rightfully entitled to them, even if they knew nothing about the fraud.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
