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A recent article from CBC News chronicles the experiences of 78-year-old Gulshan Ladhani, a Toronto senior who fell prey to international scam artists.
Ladhani sent numerous wire transfers, totalling over $50,000, after she received calls from scammers purporting to be from the Canadian immigration department. She was told that she would be arrested and deported if she did not pay a fee for missing a deadline to fill out a form confirming her identity.
She grew more fearful as the threats became more serious. Ladhani was told by one scammer over the phone, “I’m going to kill your family.” The scammers knew where she lived and tracked her using her cell phone, and told her that she was being watched.
In desperation to make the demanded payments, Ladhani took out loans from three financial institutions. Despite Ladhani’s family providing them with evidence as to the crime and her psychological state at the time of the extortion, all three banks took legal action against Ladhani, demanding repayment, plus interest and fees.
After CBC’s Go Public contacted each of the banks, one bank dropped its lawsuit and forgave the $19,000 debt and the other two said they would help Ladhani.
