A B.C. woman is speaking out after a thief managed to steal $17,000 from her bank account using only her stolen driver's licence.
Heather Wallace Barnes says her wallet was stolen on Oct. 30, while she was working at a vintage clothing store in Port Moody, B.C. The thief, a man, was caught on surveillance wandering behind the front counter and reaching into Barnes' purse while she was in a different part of the store.
When she discovered the theft, Barnes says she cancelled her cards and notified her bank. "I did everything I needed to do."
She thought the problem was solved, but then, at the end of January, someone with Barnes’ stolen licence visited eight TD Bank locations and made 12 withdrawals from Barnes’ accounts. In total, $17,000 went missing over the course of five days.
"All of a sudden, what happened in October has come back to haunt me," Barnes said. "I thought maybe she had a debit card replaced using my ID, but they (the bank) said she just walked in using my ID and was able to withdraw substantial amounts of money."
Barnes said she wants to know how the thief got away with only using her driver’s license in the first place, and why the multiple transactions didn’t raise any red flags at the bank.
"What’s the point in cancelling all your cards if they don’t even need your cards to go into a bank and steal $17,000?" Barnes said. "Anyone at TD could have seen the pattern was very irregular or suspicious."
In response to the incident, TD Bank says it has launched a fraud investigation. The bank also said it will ensure Barnes gets her money back.
"This is a sophisticated crime. Criminals go to great lengths to impersonate people," TD Bank said in a statement to CTV Vancouver.
