Rise in Insolvency Cases Among Young Quebecers: A Cautionary Tale of Identity Theft and Financial Fraud

2023-11-10 05:00:00

Young Quebecers are increasingly represented in insolvency proceedings in Quebec. Our Bureau of Investigation and the show JE met several young people who went bankrupt before even turning 25.

TOTAL DEBT: $39,444

NOM : Emmeric Rouverand-Viau
AGE : 20 ans
VILLE : Montréal

BANKRUPTCY : mars 2023
CAUSE : progressive debt

Attracted by the promise of better returns on his savings, Emmeric Rouverand-Viau believes he made a big mistake by disclosing a wealth of valuable data to an individual who turned out to be a fraudster.

The young man says he learned the hard way the consequences of what amounts to identity theft. It was through one of his friends that he met the man who would cost him dearly.

“He introduced him to me and quickly, I gave a lot of personal information too quickly, because I trusted my friend and he told me he trusted him,” he relates with regret.

Emmeric says that he gave permission to this person to use his account at Desjardins to circulate amounts.

The goal, according to him, was to improve his image with the institution, by giving the impression that he was generating significant income. “The objective was to show the financial institution that I had ample means and that if I […] placed [de l’argent] later, I might have a better interest rate,” he explains.

Shortly following, however, he changed his mind and decided to close his account.

Unfortunately the damage was done. The person who had access to his account made requests for AccordD financing without his knowledge. She also took advantage of an offer to obtain a credit card, which she promptly misused.

“At the end of December, my friend called me to tell me that he had been defrauded by this person and that I should check my accounts,” he explains.

The day following this call, he himself received a letter from a recovery agency which told him that the account had been overdue for too long and that Desjardins had sent a request to be reimbursed.

Brutal shock

While he was convinced that the account had been closed without incident, the shock was brutal to learn that he was in default of payment, according to him.

“I owed the banking institution more or less $22,000 plus interest,” he sighs.

“I was stressed […] I was fooled by the same person. I was in panic and I went to see my parents to see what I might do,” he said.

Emmeric finds it surprising that someone was able to obtain such large sums without further verification. “It’s surprising, because I had been working for two years at a part-time student job with a fixed income. They had the capacity to see that I would have been incapable of repaying everything,” he criticizes.

Emmeric said he filed a complaint with the police to report the situation. Pushed once morest the wall, he had no choice but to go bankrupt at the age of 20.

“After seven years, the note would be erased and no trace left. That seemed to be the most effective,” he said.

Without news of the police investigation, he deplores, however, that the person who allegedly defrauded him has suffered few repercussions for the moment.

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