A week after being on the show The 8:30 p.m. to tell how he was robbed of $11,000 by a fake bank representative, Gilles Muller was back on the Pierre-Olivier Zappa set with, fortunately, much better news than during his first visit.
• Also read: Fake bank representative: he is robbed of $11,000 while he is on the phone with the fraudsters
• Also read: How to avoid being a victim of a fake bank representative?
“The bank called me yesterday [lundi]then told me that everything was taken care of and that they were going to re-credit my credit cards and checking accounts this week,” he announced.
It is therefore with a sigh of relief that the Quebecer welcomed this happy outcome.
“It’s a new life that’s beginning,” he said.
Unable to be reimbursed by his bank, Mr Muller last week suffered a nightmare after being scammed by fraudsters.
“We were constantly hitting walls trying to call the banks […] and we had no answers, then I had to pay my credit cards on the 15th of the month,” he says.
“We canceled parties, family meals, gifts… We thought about putting all that aside,” adds Gilles Muller.
His bank told him that an investigation that could last 120 days had to be carried out and that in the meantime, he had to repay the $11,000 that had been taken from him. He was told that it was his responsibility since he had provided his personal information to the fraudsters.
“That was the big problem, is that I had to repay my credit cards by the 15th of the month without knowing if I was ever going to get my money back, which, technically, is not mine, because it It’s credit. It was unbearable,” proclaims Mr. Muller.
The story of Gilles Muller is unfortunately not a unique story.
“We see this more and more. Banks, for several years, have been trying to place the burden of fraud on the shoulders of their customers,” says fraud prevention consultant Simon Marchand.
Mr. Muller maintains, however, that he has learned his lesson and is much more vigilant.
“I don’t take my eyes off my wallet. My cards stay at home,” he says.
The latter recognizes that one of his biggest mistakes was to use the same PIN for his three cards; a loophole that fraudsters have been able to exploit.
“If they can find a PIN, they have all the PINs. When I talk about it around me, there are lots of people it happens to. So, if I have one piece of advice to give to people listening to us, it is: don’t put the same PIN on all your cards, change your codes regularly, lock your vehicles, don’t leave your cards in plain sight and do be careful,” recommends Gilles Muller.
To see the full interview, watch the video above.
