A Montreal-area woman blames her bank’s negligence and lack of security for the alleged theft of $20,000 in cash from her safe deposit box.
Irina Bloyd said she and her father opened the box in 2009 to store important documents, jewelry and money. She eventually became the primary user when her father became ill and was unable to leave the house.
But last February, she realized the money she had kept in a box in a clear Ziploc bag to pay for her parents’ funeral expenses was gone.
“It was like something out of a movie. It was a nightmare,” Mr Bloyd said.
Irina Broyd says she has been trying for months to get TD Canada Trust to return the $20,000 she believes was stolen from her safe deposit box. (Dave St. Amant/CBC)
Police were called to the TD Canada Trust branch in St. Hubert’s on Montreal’s South Shore, and Mr. Broyd asked the bank to investigate.
But it was an uphill battle. Due to the confidentiality of the box, only Broido can vouch for its contents. The box was also not insured against theft. And she didn’t know that keeping cash inside was prohibited.
Bride’s parents are Eastern Europeans, and she grew up with what she calls an “old-fashioned” way of thinking about money. They kept their savings at home instead of putting it in a bank account.
She said a safe deposit box seemed like a reasonable alternative.
“I blindly trusted them because it was a bank,” said Broyd. She now questions their security and protocols.
Bride said her keys started getting stuck in her locks a few months before she ran out of money. The bank couldn’t replace it, so in the fall of 2023, her belongings were moved to a new box and the bank issued a new signature card.
Each box has a signature card stating who is allowed access. This is a historical record that must be signed by both the customer and the bank employee to track the visit.
But last Christmas, Bride said the card went missing. Nevertheless, she said the bank employee gave her access to the box.
“Why can I come and go freely without signing anything? They said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll open it next time,'” she says.
When I visited the bank again in January, a new card was issued. After the alleged theft, Ms. Broide wondered if there were other visits that had not been properly recorded.
Securing your box is different from your bank account
A quick online search of Canada’s major banks reveals little that customers can keep in the box. Details will not be revealed until the customer signs the contract.
Eddie Nin, an assistant professor of marketing and behavioral sciences at the University of British Columbia, said such details would make the product less appealing.
“You want the slogan to be simple, right? It’s a safe deposit box. It’s safe,” he said.
It varies by bank, but generally speaking, there is a clause in the contract that prohibits the customer from keeping cash, precious metals above a certain amount, or dangerous or illegal items such as guns or drugs in the box. It’s common, Nin said.
You can only access the box during bank business hours. Therefore, it is also generally not recommended to keep items such as passports, medical instructions, and living wills in boxes.
Banks also don’t record what customers put in or take out. For this reason, the lease agreement clearly states that the bank is not responsible for lost or stolen items, Nin said.
Ning said many customers think of safe deposit boxes as being like bank accounts that are protected by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation. However, that protection does not apply to safe deposit boxes.
Safe deposit boxes like the one seen here require keys from both the customer and the bank to access the contents. (Courtesy of Suraj Khatiwada)
Vanessa Iafora, a Halifax-based anti-fraud consultant, says it can be difficult for customers to prove that an item is lost or stolen, so it’s very important to read the terms and conditions, which change regularly. states.
Iafora said that depending on your insurance company, your home insurance policy may cover off-site storage, such as a safe deposit box.
Safe deposit boxes are subject to dual controls and only authorized users can access them. The customer is guided to the vault by an employee, opens one lock, and the customer uses his or her key to open the other lock.
Mr. Iafora said Mr. Brodio’s experience sounds like bank employees may have deviated from norms, particularly regarding how signature logs were maintained.
“These signature cards are there for a reason, they are a record of access to the safe deposit box,” Iafora said. “If you don’t have that physical card, there’s not much you can do to see who was there and when.”
money not refunded
CBC News asked the five largest banks – Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank, TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank and CIBC – to explain what can and cannot be stored in a safe deposit box and what instructions customers should have when signing a lease agreement. They asked for clarification on whether they would receive the same.
Banks would only argue that this information, including details of content, access, insurance, costs, etc., is provided directly to the customer when signing the contract. Customers were encouraged to contact their banks with any questions.
In 2012, TD Bank drilled open and emptied thousands of safe deposit boxes across the country in an effort to get rid of safe deposit boxes that were no longer being used or were no longer being paid. The contents were supposed to be kept for safekeeping, but in 2020 several families came forward to report their belongings missing.
Mr. Iafora said he was not aware of any centralized log that would show or track losses in all banks’ safe deposit boxes.
Eddie Ning is an assistant professor of marketing and behavioral sciences at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. He said many customers mistakenly believe safe deposit boxes have the same type of protection as bank accounts. (University of British Columbia)
Iafora said the bank has its own internal fraud department, where incidents of this nature are reported. But we’ve only heard from people who have publicly complained, so it’s impossible to know if this is a widespread problem.
Mr Broide filed a complaint with the bank and submitted documents to Longueuil police in Kenya. Her case was investigated by TD’s Senior Customer Complaints Office and ADR Chambers, a private national mediation firm that handles TD complaints. Mr. Broide was not repaid the money.
TD Bank has strict protocols in place to ensure the contents of the safe are secure and can only be accessed when the customer is present, TD Bank Public Relations Manager Caroline Femmius said in an emailed statement. He said that
“Protecting our customers is our top priority and we take these matters seriously,” Femius said.
In a letter explaining the decision not to refund money to Broido, TD’s complaint investigator said they could not prove that the money was missing from Broido’s safe deposit box. Nor was any evidence found to contradict her records.
Bride questions their abilities.
After the alleged theft, Broyd said the bank could not find records of her visits from October to December 2023.
Vanessa Iafora of Anti-Fraud Intelligence Consulting in Halifax says it can be very difficult for customers to prove that items in a safe deposit box were lost or stolen. (Richard Agekutei/CBC)
When the money went missing in February 2024, she became worried.
TD investigators said in the letter that senior bank management had asked to see security footage of the safe deposit box area, but the branch’s lack of cameras in or facing the safe deposit box made the results “inconclusive. ” he explained.
Iafolla said for privacy reasons, he doesn’t want to record customers taking items out of boxes, but he believes there should be some kind of record of who goes in and out of the safe.
“Just like our clients, they need it to protect themselves,” Iafora said.
Ms Broidy said she had lost faith in the banking system and wanted to warn others. She permanently closed the safe deposit box at TD last week.
“It’s not easy to deal with emotions and stress,” said Broyde, who receives help from the Quebec Crime Victim Assistance Center (CAVAC) for psychological distress.
