A SENIOR lost $22,000 in a month, forcing him to be reliant on help from his son as hundreds of bank customers plan legal action.

Bank of Montreal (BMO) customer Emile Landry from Ottawa, Canada, lost a huge chunk of savings back in January.

The 80-year-old’s account was subject to a number of wire transfers which he had no idea about.

Landry claims that the bank failed him by not flagging the unusual and suspicious activity on his account.

In his 25 years of being a BMO customer, he told CBC News that he has never once done a wire transfer.

It should have set alarm bells ringing with the bank when four transfers all went through in one month, he says.

“After the first money transfer, why did they not stop it and question it instead of letting all four go through and empty the accounts?” Landry asked.

“At 80 years old… it hurts a lot.

“I had to get my son to lend me a few dollars.”

Landry is one of over 140 BMO customers planning legal action against the bank after losing money in fraudulent wire transfers.

The group organized by Lisa Wong is planning to sue to bank in a class-action lawsuit.

As a collective, they have lost over $1.5 million, Wong told CBC.

Speaking about the group of individuals from across the country Wong says it represents a wide demographic of victims.

“We have people from all walks of life,” she said.

“We have new immigrants, we have professionals like doctors, engineers and we have business owners.” 

Wong herself is a BMO customer who lost over $15,000 to cybercrime, bank documents seen by CBC state.

“[BMO’s security] is not protecting us against the growing, sophisticated cybercrime,” Wong says.

She along with the members planning legal action claims that the bank should have done more to protect their money.

This includes alerting customers to suspicious activity and freezing transactions until it was confirmed by the bank holder.

BMO offers customers the chance to set up such alerts themselves but this is optional.

However, advocates for corporate responsibility believe that such measures should not be at the behest of customers and should instead be an automatic service provided by banks.

Duff Conacher, the co-founder of the advocacy group Democracy Watch told CBC that across the board banks should have customers establish a maximum limit for transactions.

If this is exceeded then the customers should be required to approve it.

BMO claims that it is continually changing its systems in order to protect customers.

Top tips on avoiding scams from a bank

As scams become more sophisticated with the use of artificial intelligence, it is important you know how to spot a scam and how to avoid them.

• Be skeptical of online deals that seem too good to be true, especially on social media.
• Scammers will often use tactics to make you panicked so you make quick decisions – be cautious if you are told to take immediate action and verify who has contacted you.
• Chase Bank warns customers to “never return any unexpected funds without calling Chase first.”
• Never send money to someone you have only spoken to online or by phone as this is likely a romance scam.
• Unless you 100% know who you are talking to, never give someone remote access to your device.
• Never accept help from strangers at an ATM and always be vigilant when making withdrawals.
• Do not send money or click any links indicating that you have won a prize.

Source: Chase.com

“In the digital world we live in, these scams are fast evolving and are becoming more sophisticated, targeting millions of Canadians with malicious texts and phone calls,” spokesperson Jeff Roman told the outlet.

“We realize how difficult it is when a customer unfortunately falls victim to these criminals, and we provide support based on the specifics of their individual cases and circumstances.” 

Roman added that the bank is working on preventing such situations but the details of this cannot be shared due to security.

However, he assured BMO customers that the bank is working with the government, other banks, and leaders in the technology industry to help customers keep their money safe from scams.

The U.S. Sun has contacted BMO for comment.