Dorval resident warns of sophisticated bank scam after almost falling victim

RBC clients in MTL fending off fraudsters RBC clients in Montreal say they’re fending off fraudsters posing as bank agents.

Dorval resident Ryan Dargis says he recently experienced a scary brush with cybercrime, narrowly avoiding a bank account takeover.

He's one of several individuals who say they've been targeted by similar scams.

"It's so anxiety and nervous-driven, you really almost lose yourself and the sense of control," Dargis says.

Recently, he received a text from a random number claiming to be an RBC agent. The message stated the bank had detected fraud on his account and that he would be sent an access code, which he should share.

Dargis called RBC directly to confirm and said the bank warned him it was a scam.

"This person is literally just trying to play any avenue of vulnerability that you have," he says.

Digital scams are becoming so sophisticated that even experts are falling for them.

"I'm actually a victim of one as well," says Terry Cutler, a cybersecurity expert. "This all comes down to awareness training, because there are so many new frauds and scams going on."

Cutler explains that when a bank's data is breached, client information can be sold to the highest bidder on the dark web.

This means scammers might already have their targets' credit card numbers and contact information.

They just need to complete the two-step verification process to access the account.

He adds that banks should be held accountable if they fail to protect clients.

"If this person is always logging in from Montreal, and now the account is being logged in from another country, like a whole new device, they should have matched that up and said, 'Hey, this is not legit.'"

In a statement,  an RBC spokesperson told CTV News that bank representatives or employees will never ask clients to provide one-time passcodes sent through text messages, emails or voicemail.

The spokesperson says if clients have any doubts, they should call the bank, just like Dargis did.