Winnipeg woman left frustrated after government cheque fraudulently cashed

A Winnipeg woman is raising the alarm bells after her carbon tax relief cheque was cashed fraudulently.

Tutu Ilelaboye was expecting her $225 carbon tax relief cheque earlier this year, but when it didn’t arrive by May she decided to submit an inquiry to the Manitoba government. The province began issuing these cheques at the start of the year to help Manitobans with the rising cost of living.

When Ilelaboye heard back from the government, she was informed that the cheque had been mailed to her and was cashed on March 14.

“So that was a little bit alarming to me, because I definitely didn’t receive it and I definitely didn’t cash it,” she said.

Ilelaboye then informed the government that her address had changed since her 2021 tax return, and expressed concern over the fact that her cheque was able to be cashed by somebody that wasn’t her.

The province responded by sending her a PDF of an image of the cheque with her name and old address on it, as well as a signature on the back that didn’t belong to her.

The cheque was deposited with Scotiabank, where Ilelaboye doesn’t even have an account.

Since this exchange, Ilelaboye has been attempting to contact the government, but has not had success.

“I would like to get my cheque in the end. I don’t know if they are going to reissue it or not, but I would love to get,” she said.

In a statement, the province said that if it determines that a cheque has been cashed fraudulently, it will put the affected person in touch with the bank reconciliation branch, where they make a formal statement that they didn’t cash the cheque. From there, the financial institution investigates. If the bank determines the cheque was cashed fraudulently, it will refund the money to the province and the province will issue a new cheque.

“Given the volume of cheques being managed in this process, there can be a delay but the public should be assured that if it is determined their cheque has been fraudulently cashed, the province will replace it,” the statement said.

For her next step, Ilelaboye went to a Scotiabank branch to try to sort out the issue, where she was informed there was nothing they could do. She asked the bank teller how it was possible for someone else to cash a cheque with her name on it, and was told that Scotiabank outsources the job of validating mobile deposits to another company.

In a statement, Scotiabank said it takes fraud cases very seriously and works with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the Canadian Bankers Association and law enforcement to protect customers.

“In addition to having strong measures in place to ensure the security of our customers’ financial transactions and the confidentiality of their information, we also encourage customers to help us prevent fraud on their accounts by practicing safe banking habits and doing their part to recognize, reject, and report fraud,” the statement said.

Ilelaboye also spoke with a police officer, who was able to determine the money was deposited into a bank account in southern Ontario. Police said it’s common for people committing fraud to send cheques to be cashed in a different province as it’ more difficult for police to investigate across multiple jurisdictions.

Sgt. Trevor Thompson with the Winnipeg Police Service’s Financial Crime Unit said there are “inherent problems” with the remote capture process that is used for the mobile deposit of cheques.

“The name on the cheque really means next to nothing. The endorsement means very little as well,” he said.

“The cheques are basically processed electronically, so if you steal a cheque, find a cheque, what have you, and it’s in somebody else’s name, you’re still going to be able to make that deposit the same way you’d be able to with a bank machine.”

Thompson said the best thing people can do to ensure they receive government cheques is to sign up for direct deposit. If that’s not an option, the next best thing is to make sure the government has your current address.

Those that find themselves in this situation should report it to the police online, as well to the institution that issued the cheque.

“The way that banks have set this up just makes it super easy to do these types of [frauds],” Thompson said.

Ilelaboye said the issue is less about the money, and more about the security surrounding government cheques and mobile deposits.

“I don’t feel confident knowing that I could write a cheque to somebody and somebody else could cash it,” she said.

“I thought there was checks and balances in place with mobile deposit to make sure that the right person is cashing a cheque, because if anyone can cash a cheque with other people’s names on it, doesn’t that kind of put us in the Wild West?”

- With file from CTV’s Katherine Dow.