In a world where technology has been a cornerstone of our lives, it's a harsh reality that the same advancements could also be used to take advantage of others.

An Australian couple’s story was a sobering reminder of the dark side of our digital age.

Their dreams of starting a family were cruelly shattered when a scammer conned them out of their life savings.

Scott and Danielle White shared their harrowing experience on The Project.

Their predicament began with a phone call from someone who posed as a Bendigo Bank employee.

The scammer was alarmingly well-informed, as he knew Mr White's internet banking details and the security systems used by Bendigo Bank.

A scammer syphoned the Whites' savings account after pretending to be a Bendigo Bank representative. Image Credit: YouTube/The Project

'I have pretty much no online footprint. I've never had social media. I don't do much even on my phone outside of the usual things,' Mr White said in the interview.

This level of detail gave the scammer an air of credibility, leading Mr White to share a personal security code.

Within minutes, the Whites' account was drained of more than $98,000, leaving them with $1,500.

The emotional toll was evident as they recounted their ordeal on national television.

'We wanted to start IVF because we've been trying for a while to no success, not even a little bit of hope. So, a lot of it was going towards IVF,' Ms White lamented.

The Whites also faced mounting veterinary bills for their dog, who was diagnosed with cancer.

'We have no money left—only what I got paid from work, and that's not going to last very long,' she added.

The Project's host, Sarah Harris, showed empathy and anger as she listened to the couple's story.

'We are just so sorry that you're going through this. These bloody scumbags are out there and destroying lives,' Harris said.

The segment not only highlighted the Whites' plight but also sparked a broader conversation about the prevalence of scams in Australia.

With over $2.7 billion lost to scams in 2023 and more than 600,000 scam reports filed, it's clear that this is a national issue that requires urgent attention.

In the aftermath of the scam, the Whites experienced the full spectrum of humanity.

Their neighbours extended a lifeline and offered a loan and a care package to help them get back on their feet.

'Bendigo Bank attempts to recover funds lost to scams wherever possible,' one of the bank’s spokespersons stated.

'It goes without saying when the bank is at fault, we will reimburse customers for the loss of funds.'

Watch the full story here:

Source: The Project/YouTube​

This cautionary tale serves as a stark warning to all Australians who may be more vulnerable to deceitful tactics.

It's crucial to remain vigilant and sceptical of unsolicited calls, especially those requesting personal security information.

Always verify the identity of the caller through independent means and never give out sensitive information over the phone.

Stay informed and updated with the latest scams and prevention tips with the SDC forum’s Scam Watch section.

Key Takeaways

• Scott and Danielle White had their dreams of starting a family shattered after a scammer stole nearly $100,000 from their savings.
• The couple appeared on The Project, where they shared their distressing story of falling victim to a sophisticated banking scam.
• The scammer was knowledgeable about the Whites' Bendigo Bank account and used this information to deceive Mr White into handing over a security code.
• Bendigo Bank stated they attempt to reimburse customers for losses due to scams whenever possible.

Have you or someone you know been targeted by similar schemes over the phone? We invite you to share your thoughts and experiences with scams in the comments below.

 

[Macs-241]

As soon as MONEY is mentioned, you can be rest assured you have a scammer.
DON'T TRUST ANYONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's corrected... you and only you have to say safe the best you can ...

 

[deni67]

Fools, have you EVER had a phone call like that , I bet NO, so why why why why did you fall for it. I'm pretty sick of hearing about these stupid people.

There are people out there that don't have social media to let them know about these scams, as this gentleman said, nor do some read or watch the news!

'I have pretty much no online footprint. I've never had social media. I don't do much even on my phone outside of the usual things,' "Mr White said in the interview."

A lot of elderly people that are scammed don't have it either, so don't be so judgemental, if they had a Go Fund Me I would certainly donate to them!

 

[BruceC]

There are people out there that don't have social media to let them know about these scams, as this gentleman said, nor do some read or watch the news!

'I have pretty much no online footprint. I've never had social media. I don't do much even on my phone outside of the usual things,' "Mr White said in the interview."

A lot of elderly people that are scammed don't have it either, so don't be so judgemental, if they had a Go Fund Me I would certainly donate to them!

Then you are just as foolish!

 

[Kevin. A.]

Being tech scammer savvy is no different from being aware of any other illegal activity, and you have to be aware of scammers, criminals and fraudsters or you will be a victim. However, even some of the most tech savvy people have been caught by scammers and fraudster. All you can do is try to be informed the best way you can and try not to get caught by these lowlifes.

 

[deni67]

Then you are just as foolish!

I'm not foolish, I have sincere empathy for these people, especially elderly people that get scammed from phone calls.
My elderly mother, may she rest in peace, would have fallen for it if someone had called her, she knew nothing about computers and mobile phone scams!

 

[deni67]

Many years ago I had an unexpected phone call, I knew it was a hoax but went along with them for a bit of fun, it kind of went like this:

Caller: "Hello, my name is *****, i'm calling from 'some insurance company'.
Have you had an accident in the last year?"

Me: "Why yes I have, how did you know?"

Caller: "We know everything, can you please tell me what happened."

Me: "I was driving behind Holdens, taking a short cut when I hit a cow."

Caller: "You hit a car?"

Me: "No, I hit a cow, you know, Moooooo."

Caller: "Hold on while I get my supervisor."

Supervisor: "Hello, have you had an accident in the last year?"

Me: "Yes I have, I already told your other person that."

Supervisor: "Could you please explain what happened."

Me: "I was driving behind Holdens and a cow came charging out of the bushes and I accidently hit it."

Supervisor: "You hit a car?"

Me: "No, I hit a COW, you know, mooooooo."

Supervisor: "And how did that happen?"

Me: "Well I was driving along taking the short cut when this cow came rushing out of the bushes and I accidently hit it, I think I might have killed it."

Supervisor: "Then what happened."

Me: "The farmer came running through the bushes, saw his dead cow on the road and started to yell at me. I tried to explain it to him but it didn't help when I vomited over his shoes, i'd had a bit to much to drink you see, hense why I took the short cut.
I tried to alert him to the fact that a car had pulled over and the two men that witnessed the carnage jumped out and loaded the dead cow onto a trailer, one of them looked exactly like the local butchers son."

Supervisor: beep beep beep beep.

 

[Col@45]

Many years ago I had an unexpected phone call, I knew it was a hoax but went along with them for a bit of fun, it kind of went like this:

Caller: "Hello, my name is *****, i'm calling from 'some insurance company'.
Have you had an accident in the last year?"

Me: "Why yes I have, how did you know?"

Caller: "We know everything, can you please tell me what happened."

Me: "I was driving behind Holdens, taking a short cut when I hit a cow."

Caller: "You hit a car?"

Me: "No, I hit a cow, you know, Moooooo."

Caller: "Hold on while I get my supervisor."

Supervisor: "Hello, have you had an accident in the last year?"

Me: "Yes I have, I already told your other person that."

Supervisor: "Could you please explain what happened."

Me: "I was driving behind Holdens and a cow came charging out of the bushes and I accidently hit it."

Supervisor: "You hit a car?"

Me: "No, I hit a COW, you know, mooooooo."

Supervisor: "And how did that happen?"

Me: "Well I was driving along taking the short cut when this cow came rushing out of the bushes and I accidently hit it, I think I might have killed it."

Supervisor: "Then what happened."

Me: "The farmer came running through the bushes, saw his dead cow on the road and started to yell at me. I tried to explain it to him but it didn't help when I vomited over his shoes, i'd had a bit to much to drink you see, hense why I took the short cut.
I tried to alert him to the fact that a car had pulled over and the two men that witnessed the carnage jumped out and loaded the dead cow onto a trailer, one of them looked exactly like the local butchers son."

Supervisor: beep beep beep beep.

Love it

 

[David567]

Good to hear other do this to scammers.

 

[Willfish]

A couple of years ago my wife took a call from a scammer and decided to have some fun with him. He was giving her directions to install something on her computer and she played "little old lady" (with her phone on loud speaker so I could listen) and used every stalling trick in the book - the laptop battery was flat, she couldn't find the power cord, the laptop kept closing down, oops she forgot to plug the cord in etc. etc. etc. She also "accidently" hung up on him a couple of times to make him call her back. Meanwhile I was sitting there in awe at her ability to string him along for about 40 minutes until, out of frustration he hang up on her. Hopefully this distracted him from scamming someone else, and he provided us with 40 minutes of hilarious entertainment.

 

[Reet]

Many years ago I had an unexpected phone call, I knew it was a hoax but went along with them for a bit of fun, it kind of went like this:

Caller: "Hello, my name is *****, i'm calling from 'some insurance company'.
Have you had an accident in the last year?"

Me: "Why yes I have, how did you know?"

Caller: "We know everything, can you please tell me what happened."

Me: "I was driving behind Holdens, taking a short cut when I hit a cow."

Caller: "You hit a car?"

Me: "No, I hit a cow, you know, Moooooo."

Caller: "Hold on while I get my supervisor."

Supervisor: "Hello, have you had an accident in the last year?"

Me: "Yes I have, I already told your other person that."

Supervisor: "Could you please explain what happened."

Me: "I was driving behind Holdens and a cow came charging out of the bushes and I accidently hit it."

Supervisor: "You hit a car?"

Me: "No, I hit a COW, you know, mooooooo."

Supervisor: "And how did that happen?"

Me: "Well I was driving along taking the short cut when this cow came rushing out of the bushes and I accidently hit it, I think I might have killed it."

Supervisor: "Then what happened."

Me: "The farmer came running through the bushes, saw his dead cow on the road and started to yell at me. I tried to explain it to him but it didn't help when I vomited over his shoes, i'd had a bit to much to drink you see, hense why I took the short cut.
I tried to alert him to the fact that a car had pulled over and the two men that witnessed the carnage jumped out and loaded the dead cow onto a trailer, one of them looked exactly like the local butchers son."

Supervisor: beep beep beep beep.

Well done!

 

[Reet]

I have played the old trick of when a scammer rings me I have asked them to speak louder as I am deaf. I continue to ask them to speak louder as I still can't hear them and they eventually hang up.

 

[dianearnold]

 

[Rujam]

That was a good one.

 

[Leapinglee]

Many years ago I had an unexpected phone call, I knew it was a hoax but went along with them for a bit of fun, it kind of went like this:

Caller: "Hello, my name is *****, i'm calling from 'some insurance company'.
Have you had an accident in the last year?"

Me: "Why yes I have, how did you know?"

Caller: "We know everything, can you please tell me what happened."

Me: "I was driving behind Holdens, taking a short cut when I hit a cow."

Caller: "You hit a car?"

Me: "No, I hit a cow, you know, Moooooo."

Caller: "Hold on while I get my supervisor."

Supervisor: "Hello, have you had an accident in the last year?"

Me: "Yes I have, I already told your other person that."

Supervisor: "Could you please explain what happened."

Me: "I was driving behind Holdens and a cow came charging out of the bushes and I accidently hit it."

Supervisor: "You hit a car?"

Me: "No, I hit a COW, you know, mooooooo."

Supervisor: "And how did that happen?"

Me: "Well I was driving along taking the short cut when this cow came rushing out of the bushes and I accidently hit it, I think I might have killed it."

Supervisor: "Then what happened."

Me: "The farmer came running through the bushes, saw his dead cow on the road and started to yell at me. I tried to explain it to him but it didn't help when I vomited over his shoes, i'd had a bit to much to drink you see, hense why I took the short cut.
I tried to alert him to the fact that a car had pulled over and the two men that witnessed the carnage jumped out and loaded the dead cow onto a trailer, one of them looked exactly like the local butchers son."

Supervisor: beep beep beep beep.

 

[Leapinglee]

Love it

 

[PepeLePew]

A friend of mine got a call one night and said "Can you hold on please I was just about to go to the bathroom." She came back half an hr later and the person was still on the ph so she said "Oh I forgot you were there, I need to go and check on my dinner." Came back after eating dinner and the person was still on the phone. My friend dragged this out for 2hrs before the scammer finally hung up.

I on the other hand, quite a number of yrs ago, kept getting a ph call every 3mths from 'Telstra' claiming I was somebody else and that I owed them money. No amount of telling them that I was with Optus, this was not my name & nobody by that name had ever lived in this house & the address they had on their files was not even mine stopped them from ringing & harassing me. Finally I got jack of the calls so the next time they rang, I told them I was the person they were looking for. After they gave me all these BS details and said I was going to be served papers & arrested for non payment I started laughing and told them the joke was on them as I wasn't this person. They then said I could be arrested for impersonating another person. I told them that I could legitimately prove that I was not the person they wanted and that I could report them for constant harassment, intimidation & whatever else my lawyer could think of. Never heard from them again.

 

[Crestwood96]

I have also played the deaf card and your right they hang up

 

[deni67]

The good old whistle does the trick, one loud blow into that on the phone will give them a headache for a while.