Identity Fraud can happen to anyone. It happened to me.

After a four year-long path of recovering from 'identity fraud', while there must be a real problem of bad debts and identity and financial fraud, I feel that the system does not appear to protect and ease the path for innocent people to easily clear their name once an alleged 'crime' has been identified - and attributed.

As a result, I would strongly suggest that anyone faced with an accusation of which they are innocent should become proactive, seek legal guidance and support.

This is my story:

I have lived in Victoria BC since December 2015. I was not made aware of an alleged debt based in Montreal until I applied for a car loan in 2021,three years after the first default on a 2018 loan that had been attributed to me.

The initial debt collection attempts were made to a person with an address in or close to Montreal.

A debt collector contacted me and offered to give me a discount on the alleged obligation in order to clear the issue.

I was derided for asserting my innocence because if innocent, I was told that I should have filed a police report

(Perhaps agency representatives become jaded because they receive a lot of claims of innocence from actual perpetrators).

As a result of the derision, my next step was filing a police report. The constable was calm and clear in directing how to file a proper report, also stating clearly that settling for a discounted amount to close the account would be "tantamount to admitting guilt of the alleged fraud".

Once you become aware of an alleged debt accusation and become proactive in your own defence, you realize that the system ‘appears’ weighted toward collecting bad debts, and ‘that’ protecting innocent persons accused of the alleged debt ‘seems to get’ less emphasis.”

What you should do in such cases is to contact the credit-rating agency which claims to have information and require a detailed report so you can review the allegations:
Date/ location/ items involved/ money amounts/ alleged crime and/or default details.

Then review your calendar and financial records: where were you at the time of the alleged transaction? Gather info that points to corrective details.

Seek legal advice from a helpful source. Be aware that not all 'free-for-some' services remain free after the obligatory first half hour.

After checking with a number of sources of 'free legal aid', I was fortunate to find out about Seniors First BC (SFBC), where I was helped to establish an eventually effective defence strategy: The FREE guidance from lawyers and staff was steady and to the point, which gave me confidence to follow their patient, step-by-step approach. Because of sometimes very slow responses from other agencies, the process took almost four years (May 2021 to February 2025).

Other lawyers had quoted me $1,000 for a retainer, and $350 for follow-up meetings or related correspondence. I am retired. I can’t imagine what the final cost would have been.

As for tips, I cannot stress enough the importance of being proactive. Once alerted, urgently seek a detailed report from a credit-rating agency. It will provide details of the alleged incursion of debt. Be aware of company procedures. The two companies who had approved the loans alleged to me had closed their files after a year, when the 'bad debt' had been sold to debt collectors.

Quickly file a report with your local police, and submit that to the credit-rating agencies such as Equifax orTrans-Union.

If possible, get free legal advice and support. Each pro bono lawyer I contacted did provide some helpful comments, even to declare their lack of expertise in this particular instance, and suggesting alternatives for help.

Use those details to gather info that supports your claims of innocence, and file a report with local police. I was given good support by my local police office.

All in all, none of the other recommended 'free-to-some" services were as comprehensive as my experience at SFBC. Their staff and lawyers have my deep appreciation for their services - which was marked by both courtesy and reliability,even when staff changes were involved.

I wish to share my story and experience with Seniors First BC.

I would normally speak in person as I know it brings with it more credibility and is often very powerful but it took such a toll for so long and took so long to make the obsessive behaviour stop that I am just not up to it as I want to put this behind me.

At the time, I had lived in my apartment for 18 years and it was always peaceful and safe.

In October 2020, a tenant down the hall began making claims about other tenants, and that the apartment manager was “stalking her” and making unwanted advances.

Of course when a woman makes such a claim I believe her.

She also accused the transit driver down the hall whom I had known for 18 years and who minds his own business. The tenant told me she was going to post a notice on his door, claiming he was “making unwanted advances and blocking her access to her apartment door”. Because I was friendly with the transit driver she began targeting me too, making the same kind of (false) claims, sending countless complaints to the apartment management everyday for the following 3 years!

There was a building under construction down the block and one day I saw posters on every entrance of every apartment building and house for blocks, warning women that the construction crew was harassing her!

I talked to a woman on the crew and she said the bosses came, questioned the crew but nothing had occurred!

The situation lasted from 2020-2022 at which point I realized this tenant was making false claims, that she had mental health issues and had been through a wellness check in the past.

In November 2022, coming back from walking my dog I started climbing the staircase to my apartment when I happened to cross her path as she was coming down. When I passed her she turned and began screaming that “I assaulted her”. I continued up the stairs carrying my dog and just went into my apartment and she continued screaming out in the hall for 4 min.!

Later that day, at 8 pm, there was a knock on my door. She had called 911 and it was the police. The tenant had the staircase encounter on video and the constable, who saw the video said “there was no assault” and he thanked me for just walking away!

She continued to video me whenever she saw me, indoors and outdoors.

This went on and on and in 2023, when walking to White Spot for lunch, I walked past her at the bus stop. There was a transit driver approaching and she started pleading for help falsely claiming I assaulted her again.

The police came (again) at 8 pm but I was expecting it this time!

We spoke privately and I learned that the other tenant had an extensive history of exhibiting this behaviour for many years in other places she had lived in.

Two weeks later I received a call from a detective from the Hate Crimes Division. They were intervening on my behalf!

A constable was assigned to prepare a request for a Peace Bond but, eventually, the Crown said “the threat wasn’t high enough”!

Over the following months the 8 other tenants being targeted with false accusations got together and signed a petition to have the disruptive tenant evicted, but we were told we needed more evidence!

In the spring of 2024, I thought I just had to find another way.

I worked as a counsellor for women who experienced gender-based violence for many years and knew there must be resources out there for seniors experiencing harassment and abuse.

I contacted Seniors First BC (SFBC) and I was believed right away! Their Victims Services called with support every 2 weeks and I always spoke to Queen, one of the counsellors.

I provided the information they needed and a Seniors First Lawyer drafted a letter that was sent to the apartment owners that documented the harassment and abuse I experienced and strongly recommended action be taken.

The building owners were glad I contacted Seniors First and thanked me for it. They then went through the process of eviction with the Residential Tenancy Branch and were successful.

On July 15th, 2024, our nightmare was finally over and peace has returned to the building thanks to Seniors First BC!

As someone who once experienced gender-based violence and healed from that and devoted most of my life to advocating for ending violence against women this was such a disturbing and harmful experience.

I am so grateful to Seniors First BC, their support workers and Victims Services for the support they gave me and the action they took to bring this horrible situation to an end.

I am also grateful to the police and the Hate Crimes detective and constable for their intervention as they did all they could to support me in this situation.

Thank you to Nighat (a Legal Advocate at SFBC), Queen and Seniors First BC legal support! 🩷

I would first like to thank you for bring more awareness to a difficult and often silent subject. I often say the Boomer generation is the last great generation. A generation that can do everything manually (like calculating, spelling, drivining, cooking, etc) without the use of modern conveniences. They can live in both an analog and digital world.

I just want to thank you all for attending this event today, as it a great cause and deeply means a lot to me personally to know there are people are standing up to such horrible acts. I was raised by two of the kindest, funniest, most loving, and self-sacrificing parents I’ve ever come to know of. We were not blessed with much in this world, but I was BLESSED and won the lottery, when it came to parents.

This is where you are questioning why would they be abused? This abuse has 2 parts. I am the youngest of three, with two older brothers. In 2020, they found a mass in my brain, and the next day I had brain surgery. I was constantly in and out of hospitals for treatments.

My father, who was immunocompromised, would take the bus during covid line up outside the hospital to see me. When I was finally released, my brother and his wife moved me into their house. I did not want that.

After a year or two, his wife became increasingly incensed I did not die. She demanded I move out immediately, throwing my father in the mix who moved there abruptly, retiring, when my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and eventually passed away.

As an incentive to move, she got my brother to change the bathroom to a keyed lock. Even her own children would have to ask for permission to use the washroom. She also put cameras all over the house.

My father and I were not allowed to use the kitchen, so we had to rely on takeout and deliveries, which was extremely expensive and unhealthy – especially for my father who was diabetic and on hemodialysis and myself with brain cancer.

Even though we bought our own food, my own brother hid it from us. I got into fights with him. His own 10-year-old daughter SCREAMED: “WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” My sister- in-law called her own daughter the problem child as she had ADHD. Her ADHD was minimal. My sister-in-law felt insecure because she said my mother raised my niece. My beautiful, kind, intelligent niece at 10 years old could stand up to her own parents.

Their reckless verbal, mental and emotional abuse did not only affect us but also impacted their own young children. It was toxic and unnecessary.

I was looking for housing but being on long-term disability – and them locking the doors – we had to make sure we would not be locked out. They could not be reasoned with and refused to talk. They though it was easy for us to move out in a housing crisis.

So my sister-in-law decided to look on the internet and print off and fill out a “Trespassing Notice” and repeatedly called the RCMP to get them to remove us.

When the RCMP refused to comply with a non-legal document and calmly explained to them. The RCMP were met with resistance, anger, aggression and frustration repeatedly.

I showed the RCMP everything I was trying to do, all the rentals, viewings and emails – proof I did not want to be there. I wanted to use a washroom, do laundry, have a kitchen and not be berated night and day. Be scared. They did not like the RCMP’s responses, So they decided one day to make me call 911 by confining my dad and I in the basement. My brother admitted it to the RCMP.

I talked to so many social workers and advocacy groups, and one day. It led me to SAIL, and I connected my dad with them. He wanted me to be on the call. One of the advocates from Sail was speaking to my dad and asking him about his financials to see about assistance for rent. Then they found out he had another adult son he was supporting in another province.

They asked if he was unable to work? No. He lived in a three-bedroom townhouse by himself – rent free. my parents paid the taxes, utilities, insurance, phone and internet. He had access to the car and my father’s car insurance…until he crashed it.

He would have been in his mid-40s at the time. The advocate simply said: “I'm sorry to tell you, but this is also elder abuse.” My father understood what he had to do, but our first priority was to get out of a hostile situation.

My father was a good, kind, principled and stoic man. He did not like to show emotion, like most men of his generation. Therefore, as a child I was not a “daddy’s girl”. My mom held me tight, maybe because I was the youngest.

After my mom passed, I held on to my dad, and he held on to me. I became a “daddy’s girl” later in life and so proud to be; we were inseparable. On his death bed when the doctors said he would no longer recognize anyone. I asked my father if he knew who I was. He wrote my name.

The nurses agreed he knew who I was and was visibly happy. When I visited him, he always reached for my hand and never let go until he wanted me to go home to rest. I was the only one of his children there holding my papa’s hand at his last breath. He deserved better. Just like my mother, I was there for her, holding her hand.

In my case, I choose to believe my brothers are good people that made bad decisions. It’s unfortunate, as we were raised by the same parents but they can no longer hold the family name with true dignity

For the seniors that are suffering from mental, emotional, physical or financial abuse, do not feel ashamed to reach out for help - especially if it’s family. Do not enable them to continue. You worked so long and so hard to have a good retirement. Do not let that be taken from you. Just because you are over 65, it does not classify you as something to be ignored, neglected or abused. You are worthy!