$306 million stolen from customers of financial institutions

Fraudsters have stolen $306 million from customers of several local financial institutions in over three years.

For the period 2021 to 2024, there were 601 reports of electronic fraud offences carried out against customers.

At the same time, the police are reporting that 127 persons have been arrested for the crimes over the period under review.

Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Crime Portfolio Fitz Bailey says in 2022, the police received 179 reports compared with 189 last year.

Bailey, who appeared before Parliament's Economy and Production Committee earlier today, said the National Commercial Bank and the Bank of Nova Scotia suffered the greatest impact from fraudsters, accounting for 85 per cent of the reports.

Since the start of the year, 98 reports were received amounting to more than $53 million.

Bailey said the offences are mainly done through online transfers, automated teller machines, point of sale and wire transfers.

The senior cop told committee members that in recent times there has been increased collaboration between the police and financial institutions.

Bailey singled out the National Commercial Bank for its efforts at working with the police to investigate fraudulent activities.

“Sometimes it is very difficult to get support from the other financial institutions and other banks,” he said.

He said the police are faced with serious constraints in applying for court orders to get information which sometimes slow down the investigative process.

The deputy commissioner of police recommended that the Banking Services Act be amended “so that an officer can make an application before a judge for a court order to look at a person's account before he is arrested.

Under the current legislation, Bailey said an arrest has to be made first before a court order can be granted to check a suspect's bank account.

- Edmond Campbell

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