[projekktor id=’24865′]

A Hamilton woman wants answers after a complete stranger was added to her bank account. Sheri Orvis went online to check her bank accounts and noticed a strange transaction, $30 from a local golf club. But Sheri and her husband don’t golf and they hadn’t used their debit cards that day so she called Scotiabank’s customer service number on the back of her card.

“They had told me that there was a third person added to our bank account recently and we were very shocked.”

Sheri was told that because this third person was added, there was nothing they could do about the transaction except to wait until Monday morning and go into their home branch and enquire about it. She decided to take matters into her own hands and asked for the stranger’s name. She looked him up, found his number and called to see what was going on.

“Sure enough he said yes, he was there and made a $30 purchase – and he also told us that he went into the bank recently to be added to his wife’s account.”

Turns out they share the exact same 7 digit number on their bank card, the only difference is the branch number which was typed in wrong by a teller, who added a total stranger to Sheri’s account without her knowledge. Sheri came down to her Scotiabank branch where she does all of her banking and she was told she would get her $30 back and that the stranger that was put on her account would be taken off.

In an email, Scotiabank says: “We sincerely apologize for this mistake and any inconvenience it may have caused our customers. We have committed to thoroughly review this case and learn how we can better improve our processes.”