A Hawkesbury couple wants to warn others of what can happen if a wallet is stolen.
On March 28, Harry Hayes was leaving the Giant Tiger Store at the Hawkesbury Centre and he alleges a woman distracted him by dropping papers on the ground. The suspect took Hayes’ wallet which contained five credit cards and maxed them out, and the banks have only been able to partially refund Hayes for his unauthorized expenses.
“They maxed out all my credit cards,” he said.
Hayes estimated the total cost is $5,000 to $8,000.
These people knew what they were doing,” said his wife, Therese.
The Hayes’ moved to Hawkesbury in 2023 from Elliot Lake and otherwise enjoy their new community. Like many senior citizens, they are on a fixed income.
Harry’s wallet was later found in a trash bin on Main Street in Hawkesbury and someone handed it in at the post office. Of course, the credit cards and important identification such as a driver’s licence and health insurance card were missing. Fortunately, he was able to instantly have the government-issued identification replaced. He began contacting each of the banks and other companies which issued the credit cards, Scotiabank, Bank of Montréal, CIBC, Walmart, and Capital One to have them canceled and the funds recovered. Harry also contacted the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and notified them of what had happened.
Harry said that unfortunately, the police have been unable to do much about the theft and most of the responsibility to recover the funds is with the banks and companies, which have only been able to partially recover the funds. He estimated that $1,500 each still needed to be recovered on the Scotiabank and CIBC cards and none of the $1,000 spent on the Bank of Montréal card had yet been recovered.
“I’m hoping it all disappears,” Harry said, in anticipation that the funds are recovered and outstanding debt on the credit cards is eliminated. He hopes the banks and police cooperate.
Harry and Therese Hayes want others to be vigilant and watch out for situations where someone could potentially steal wallets, purses, and the important credit cards and identification usually contained inside.
