A 90-year-old man from Victoria, B.C., lost his entire $1.7 million life savings after falling victim to an elaborate scam where fraudsters posed as bank investigators — and two major banks allegedly failed to stop it, his daughter told CBC News.
Ray Anholt said it all began in June 2024, when he received a call that appeared to come from CIBC, claiming his help was needed in a “money-laundering investigation.” The caller warned him to stay quiet and withdraw cash so couriers could “keep it safe.”
“They said, ‘We want to make sure you don’t lose your life savings,’ ” Anholt told CBC. “So I went along with it.”
He began withdrawing large sums of cash from CIBC branches. One branch manager froze his online and ATM access but still allowed in-person withdrawals. A letter later described “unusual” transactions—but no one explicitly warned him he was being scammed.
When the fraudsters learned the bank was suspicious, they instructed Anholt to move his funds to RBC, which he did. There, he was told to buy gold bars using bank drafts between $50,000 and $395,000. Bank tellers at RBC didn’t question his massive bank drafts. Couriers later picked up the gold until all his funds were gone.
“All sorts of alarms should have been going off,” said Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch, who told CBC the banks failed their duty to protect customers under the Bank Act.
Both CIBC and RBC told CBC they would not provide interviews. CIBC said it had tried to warn Anholt, while RBC called the matter “resolved.”
Canada currently has no law requiring banks to reimburse scam victims, unlike the U.K. or Australia. Federal officials have discussed stronger protections, but critics say the changes are coming “too little, too late.”
Police in Victoria have since arrested one courier connected to the case, but Anholt’s daughter Jill A. said she doubts her father’s money will ever be recovered. “I think it’s very brave of him,” she told CBC. “I can’t even imagine how many people are falling for scams like this.”
The story comes after last week Ottawa said it was set to roll out new measures to protect Canadians from scams, fake texts and phone fraud. Last year, Canadians lost $643 million to scammers, nearly a 300% increase since 2020. Tough talk again by the feds, but little action to actually protect hardworking Canadians.
Pro tip: never reply to any unknown text messages or answer any phone calls. You’ll be better off in this dangerous life. I can’t imagine losing your life savings like this as these scammers continue to prey on seniors.
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