Family devastated after cyberthieves steal $10,000 from bank account

Alana Regnier says her family is reeling after thousands of dollars were stolen from their bank account.

Regnier, who is originally from Unity, Sask., has been living in Calgary with her husband Caleb and two young children. Their dream is to one day own a house of their own.

She said she made the difficult decision to go back to work part-time after the birth of her second child. Regnier said she was able to put in about 600 hours of work with a non-profit and managed to save about $10,000 to go toward a down payment.

Then on March 14, a routine check of her Bank of Montreal (BMO) account led her to the shocking discovery that $10,000 had disappeared, she said.

"It was really devastating, we were completely shocked," Regnier said. "Our money's gone." 

Regnier said the loss of her family's money was heartbreaking, especially when she factored in the lost time with her young children.

"It's years of savings and we've been feeling very, fearful these past couple of months, like from gas to groceries," she said.

The Regniers are among more than 100 Bank of Montreal customers who say they've had money transfered from their accounts without their authorization. BMO clients from all over Canada have reported a collective $1.5 million in losses, and some say they are working on a class-action lawsuit.

CBC has previously spoken to others planning to be involved in the proposed lawsuit. Many, like the Regniers, say they are depressed and having sleepless nights wondering if they'll ever get their hard-earned money back.

CBC asked BMO what it is doing about the fraud. The bank said it is "determined" to work with government and policymakers "to help Canadians defend themselves against scams."

"We are always open to reviewing cases when new information becomes available and will be reaching out to our customer to discuss this matter," BMO said in a statement.

CBC contacted three lawyers who specialize in cybercrime and data privacy for this story. All three said they couldn't comment because of a conflict of interest.

The Regniers say they have no clue how someone got access to their bank account. One day the money was there and the next it had vanished, they say.

Caleb Regnier said the bank told the family that it was their own fault because the transaction happened from their device and IP address. He said it felt like the bank was blaming the victim and not taking responsibility.