It’s a simple scam. But untangling her financial affairs from this stolen-identity scam is proving to be not so simple. Regaining control of her affairs continues to be time-consuming and stressful.
Two weeks went by before Kathy Williams discovered that someone in Toronto had registered a change of address, effectively forwarding all of her personal mail to a Toronto address.
But it gets worse. The scammer then used information which police told Williams hearkens back to a 2019 Desjardins security breach. The scammer used Williams’ personal information to sign up for nine new credit cards in her name.
The culprit racked up about $20,000 in charges during the two-week period between October 26 and November 7, 2022.
Williams says it was November 7 when a L’Orignal post office employee stopped at her home to ask if she really wanted all of her mail forwarded to Toronto. The question caught Williams by surprise.
“I told her it wasn’t me who did that,” Williams recalled, adding that she doesn’t want to blame local post office staff, as they have always offered top-notch service to her.
But someone dropped the ball. The change of address should have been confirmed and Williams says she had no idea how easy it is for someone to get new credit cards using misappropriated personal information. The $20,000 was spent using one credit card and Williams has been in touch with the affiliated banking institution, which has said she will…
