Langley dad questions bank after 15-year-old caught up in online scam
Posted September 27, 2023 8:11 pm.
Last Updated September 28, 2023 9:52 am.
A Langley dad is worried about permissions on bank accounts for minors after his 15-year-old daughter went $1,000 into overdraft when she was scammed online.
Yushen Shi says his daughter was targeted by an online scammer and he’s wondering how the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) allegedly let this happen.
“My daughter came to me and said ‘Oh dad my account is big number negative, why did that happen?'” he said.
Shi tells CityNews he noticed a new feature in his daughter’s bank account three weeks ago.
“For every cheque she deposits — electronic or physical — there will be $700 available immediately in her account before that cheque is even cleared,” he explained.
Shi says the understanding with the bank when his daughter signed up was that overdraft was not an option, as she is 15 years old. Three weeks ago, he says she was approached by someone on Instagram who wanted to buy some of her pictures to use in their art. Her dad says the scammer sent two e-cheques – and she cashed them.
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With the bank’s new feature, Shi says $1,500 was instantly available for withdrawal. Then, suddenly, her account was in the red by over $1,000.
“You’re lending money to my kid. It’s like an unlimited credit line,” Shi noted.
He says the feature never should have been added, and minors shouldn’t have access to money they don’t have.
“This is probably not a big number to older adults, but this four-digit negative is a huge number to a kid … she does not know how to trust this world anymore.”
In a statement to CityNews, RBC says it is investigating what happened, and explains the amount of funds that may be instantly available after depositing a cheque is shared with their clients when they’re opening an account.
Shi says he hopes his story serves as a cautionary tale.
He says he reported the incident to the police, and adds that he’s happy they caught the problem before things got worse — and far more expensive.
