Emma Mann has been through a lot in her 32 years.
She was diagnosed with a brain tumor before she was two years old and is currently battling skin cancer and has undergone multiple radiation treatments.
Now, she's battling scammers who have defrauded her of more than $5,000.
On Monday, she received a scam call from someone who, ironically, claimed she was a victim of fraud and needed help recovering her money.
“When they called me at 9:30 in the morning, they told me someone had used my card to spend $400 on Amazon,” she recalled.
The next few hours were busy as she took the bus around Halifax buying gift cards.
Her mother, Tracie Mann, said Emma had cognitive impairment but was very trusting.
“She used her bank card to buy four cards for $500 each. That was $2,000 total. Then they told her to go to the bank and get a $3,000 cash advance and then go back to Sobeys or the supermarket to buy more cards,” she said.
“They then told her to go and withdraw some money using her Visa card and then go to another store to get more cards.”
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Photos of receipts show four transactions for $500 Visa gift cards at Atlantic Superstore that occurred within minutes of each other. Three other receipts show Emma buying three Apple gift cards from Sobeys, also within minutes of each other and from three different cashiers.
“I was very nervous because they kept rushing me and asking me to hurry up. I only had about two hours,” she said.
Eventually, Emma gave the scammer all the PIN numbers on her cards and all the money was lost.
When Emma met Tracy that day, she broke down and told her what had happened. Tracy said that when they checked her bank account online, they found only $79 left.
“She's a disabled person. She lives alone with her cat and she has no money in her bank account. I really feel bad for her. She's stressed out,” Tracy said.
They immediately called the police, their banks, Apple, Visa, and anyone else who would listen.
So far, they have only refunded about $35, and Scotiabank said it is investigating.
Tracy said she tried asking Apple if they could tell her where the gift card was spent, but was told they couldn't reveal that information.
“This is what you're supposed to do — have some kind of deal in there, show this somewhere. Maybe you can catch these people, but there's nothing,” she said.
Tracy Mann (right) said they spoke out because they wanted to warn others.
Zach Bauer/Global News
Meanwhile, police say scams like this one are keeping them busy and aren't likely to go away. John MacLeod, a spokesman for Halifax Regional Police, advises people who receive similar calls to think carefully and look for red flags.
“You should be able to contact those agencies and confirm who you are dealing with, and for us it's a red flag when individuals are trying to defraud money through gift cards,” he said.
Tracy said they are speaking out to raise awareness of these scams and make people realize that the elderly are not the only group that are prone to falling victim.
“This can happen to these young people with disabilities who are trying to live independently,” she said, adding that the scam robbed her daughter of her independence and security.
“It's going to take her a while to build up her bank account again so she can feel secure and so she and her cat can live comfortably. They took all that away.”
— With files from Zack Power of Global News
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