My aunt in Los Angeles was scammed by a former BMO bank employee using Crypto.com and Trust Wallet — this was her entire retirement savings

Hi everyone,
I’m posting this for my aunt because she’s devastated and doesn’t know what to do. She’s a senior living in Los Angeles and recently retired. A few months ago, a bank employee at BMO convinced her to “invest in crypto for better returns.” Since the employee worked at her bank, she completely trusted her.

Here’s what happened step-by-step:

1. The employee helped her open an account on Crypto.com and buy cryptocurrency (Ethereum) using her BMO bank funds.
2. Then the employee told her to download Trust Wallet and “transfer her crypto there to earn more.”
3. The employee personally guided her through the setup — and we now suspect she either saw or kept a copy of the 12-word recovery phrase (the wallet’s private key).
4. My aunt was also instructed to connect to a site via the “DApps / Discover” tab in Trust Wallet, supposedly for “staking” or “earning interest.”
5. After a while, the employee told her that her “investment had grown” and that to claim her big returns, she needed to deposit more money first. My aunt did this twice, believing she was just adding to her balance so she could withdraw more later.
6. Shortly after her second deposit, the funds disappeared from her wallet.
7. The employee then quit her job at BMO, and the bank told us they “can’t do anything because she’s no longer employed.”

The worst part is that my aunt did all of this secretly, without telling anyone in the family. She truly thought she was investing wisely and surprising us later with good news. By the time we found out, it was too late.

We’ve gathered:

• Bank transaction records
• Crypto.com receipts and transfer logs
• Trust Wallet transaction details
• Screenshots and text messages between my aunt and the former employee

This was her entire retirement savings, and she’s completely heartbroken.

We’ve contacted BMO’s fraud department, but they haven’t been helpful so far. We’re now preparing to report it to the LAPD Financial Crimes Division, FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov), and Crypto.com’s fraud team.

Questions:

• Has anyone experienced something similar — especially scams involving bank employees and crypto wallets?
• Is there any realistic way to trace or recover funds once they’ve been drained from Trust Wallet?
• Should we hire a lawyer — and if so, what kind? (Financial crimes, crypto fraud, or banking misconduct?)
• How can we hold BMO accountable since their employee used her position to gain my aunt’s trust and access her funds?

We’d appreciate any advice or guidance. This has destroyed my aunt emotionally — this was her life savings, and she’s been crying every day since it happened.

Thank you to anyone who can share insights or next steps.