Beware! How a seemingly innocent text cost this HSBC bank customer $50,000
- Replies 20
Protecting your hard-earned savings is paramount, and sadly, there are people in the world who make it their mission to steal it all away.
One such person recently targeted Gerald Chin, a 41-year-old Sydney man planning to surprise his parents with an overseas trip.
Unfortunately, he fell victim to a scam that cost him his $50,000 savings.
The scam began on November 29 with a seemingly innocent text message from what he believed was his bank, asking him to call them.
This message, which appeared in the same thread as legitimate messages from the bank, did not raise any suspicions for the 41-year-old.
During the call, he was asked to provide his username and personal details for verification. He was then told that a device in Perth had logged into his account and attempted to transfer his money.
The bank's fraud team, he was then informed, had blocked this transaction.
The scammer, who introduced himself as Adrian and spoke with an English accent, suggested that Chin lock his account and provide him with bank codes from his phone.
An email regarding the incident was promised, and Chin was assured that the bank would get back to him once their investigation was complete.
‘I did not suspect anything was amiss as the email did not mention any transactions, nor did I receive notifications that funds were being transferred out from my account,’ Chin said.
‘The scammer later concluded the call by telling me they will get back to me once they have finished their investigation.’
The scammer called again the next day, asking for more bank codes.
At this point, Chin realised something was amiss and immediately called the HSBC helpline. Unfortunately, by then, his account had been $49,000 short.
‘I’m devastated and gutted realising I have been scammed as it took a long time to save up that money, and the financial stress has kicked in now knowing that I will be struggling to make payments for my mortgage and bills,’ he said.
‘I have also been traumatised by the whole incident and unable to work and sleep properly knowing that my personal information is now with the scammers.’
‘As I was planning to take my aged parents overseas to the United States as a Christmas present to see my brother, it’s now a heart-wrenching situation knowing that I won’t be able to afford this, and I’m not sure what to tell them now as I do not want my parents to worry about me.’
‘I am also not sure whether I will have another opportunity as this whole incident has set me back for a few years,’ he added.
Chin's case is currently under a fraud investigation at HSBC, which reportedly could take weeks to complete. He has also not received any assurances that his money will be recovered.
He expressed his frustration at the lack of transaction notifications from HSBC, which could have alerted him to the scam sooner.
‘What infuriated me was that there weren’t any transaction notifications sent to my mobile or email, which could have prompted me to act quicker, considering it’s a fairly large amount of money,’ Chin said.
‘The transaction was also to a new account number, and there weren’t any pending holds for such a large amount.’
Chin claimed that HSBC had ‘deflected’ blame and responsibility when it said that other banks and telcos suffered data breaches in the past few months.
‘I felt there hasn’t been much seriousness and responsiveness taken by HSBC to introduce safeguards to their system and provide transparency about the recurring scam issues,’ he said.
When asked about Chin’s case, HSBC said it would not speak about it for privacy reasons but assured that it takes customer security ‘very seriously’.
‘We thoroughly investigate any reported cases of scam or fraud,’ an HSBC spokesperson said.
‘We advise customers to ignore any requests for their confidential information such as PINs, log-in passwords or verification codes through phone calls, emails or SMS messages.’
Chin is not the only HSBC customer recently to have lost a significant amount of money to scams.
A Melbourne couple reportedly lost close to $50,000, their house deposit, in November. One of the couples was deceived when the scammer said there was an unusual $14,000 transaction made from her bank account.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Australians have lost $11 million in bank impersonation scams this year.
Scamwatch also showed that text messages are the most preferred means to victimise innocent Aussies with 49,572 reports. Phone calls follow at second with 10,565 reports, and online at third with 2,904 reports.
Banks returned $600 million in stolen money to customers in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, Chin is still hoping that his hard-earned cash will find its way back into his account.
‘I wish to spread more awareness to people as this involves a lot of money that people have worked hard for,’ he said.
‘I believe there have been a lot of cases happening, but they were underreported due to embarrassment or wish for privacy.’
Australian banks have recently launched the Scam-Safe Accord to combat the ‘war on scams’, with a new confirmation of payee system and enhanced measures to detect fraud in the works.
‘As scammers work hard to devise new ways to steal money, it’s critical that governments, industry and consumers remain vigilant to make Australia a hard target for scammers,’ Customer Owned Banking Association Chief Executive Mike Lawrence said.
According to Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones, the Federal Government is also working with telecommunications companies to block scam text messages.
Scamwatch warned against sharing money or personal information with anyone uncertain about it, as fraudsters often pretend to be from organisations you 'know and trust'.
‘Scams succeed because they look like the real thing and catch you off guard when you’re not expecting it,’ the agency said.
‘Scammers take advantage of new technology, new products or services and major events to create believable stories that convince you to give them your money or personal details.’
‘Always stop, think and check before you act. Scammers rely on you not spotting these warning signs because you’re in a hurry,’ it concluded.
Members, if you or someone else was scammed, call 000 and notify your bank immediately. You can also report the scam to Scamwatch here.
Similarly, you can also head over to our Scam Watch forum to stay updated with the latest tricks scammers use to deceive people out of their money and sensitive details.
Have you ever received a suspicious text or call from your bank? Let us know in the comments below.
One such person recently targeted Gerald Chin, a 41-year-old Sydney man planning to surprise his parents with an overseas trip.
Unfortunately, he fell victim to a scam that cost him his $50,000 savings.
The scam began on November 29 with a seemingly innocent text message from what he believed was his bank, asking him to call them.
This message, which appeared in the same thread as legitimate messages from the bank, did not raise any suspicions for the 41-year-old.
Gerald Chin fell prey to a bank scam after a seemingly innocent text. Credit: Shutterstock
During the call, he was asked to provide his username and personal details for verification. He was then told that a device in Perth had logged into his account and attempted to transfer his money.
The bank's fraud team, he was then informed, had blocked this transaction.
The scammer, who introduced himself as Adrian and spoke with an English accent, suggested that Chin lock his account and provide him with bank codes from his phone.
An email regarding the incident was promised, and Chin was assured that the bank would get back to him once their investigation was complete.
‘I did not suspect anything was amiss as the email did not mention any transactions, nor did I receive notifications that funds were being transferred out from my account,’ Chin said.
‘The scammer later concluded the call by telling me they will get back to me once they have finished their investigation.’
The scammer called again the next day, asking for more bank codes.
At this point, Chin realised something was amiss and immediately called the HSBC helpline. Unfortunately, by then, his account had been $49,000 short.
‘I’m devastated and gutted realising I have been scammed as it took a long time to save up that money, and the financial stress has kicked in now knowing that I will be struggling to make payments for my mortgage and bills,’ he said.
‘I have also been traumatised by the whole incident and unable to work and sleep properly knowing that my personal information is now with the scammers.’
‘As I was planning to take my aged parents overseas to the United States as a Christmas present to see my brother, it’s now a heart-wrenching situation knowing that I won’t be able to afford this, and I’m not sure what to tell them now as I do not want my parents to worry about me.’
‘I am also not sure whether I will have another opportunity as this whole incident has set me back for a few years,’ he added.
Chin's case is currently under a fraud investigation at HSBC, which reportedly could take weeks to complete. He has also not received any assurances that his money will be recovered.
He expressed his frustration at the lack of transaction notifications from HSBC, which could have alerted him to the scam sooner.
‘What infuriated me was that there weren’t any transaction notifications sent to my mobile or email, which could have prompted me to act quicker, considering it’s a fairly large amount of money,’ Chin said.
‘The transaction was also to a new account number, and there weren’t any pending holds for such a large amount.’
Chin claimed that HSBC had ‘deflected’ blame and responsibility when it said that other banks and telcos suffered data breaches in the past few months.
‘I felt there hasn’t been much seriousness and responsiveness taken by HSBC to introduce safeguards to their system and provide transparency about the recurring scam issues,’ he said.
When asked about Chin’s case, HSBC said it would not speak about it for privacy reasons but assured that it takes customer security ‘very seriously’.
‘We thoroughly investigate any reported cases of scam or fraud,’ an HSBC spokesperson said.
‘We advise customers to ignore any requests for their confidential information such as PINs, log-in passwords or verification codes through phone calls, emails or SMS messages.’
People are warned to be cautious in sharing bank details. Credit: Shutterstock
Chin is not the only HSBC customer recently to have lost a significant amount of money to scams.
A Melbourne couple reportedly lost close to $50,000, their house deposit, in November. One of the couples was deceived when the scammer said there was an unusual $14,000 transaction made from her bank account.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Australians have lost $11 million in bank impersonation scams this year.
Scamwatch also showed that text messages are the most preferred means to victimise innocent Aussies with 49,572 reports. Phone calls follow at second with 10,565 reports, and online at third with 2,904 reports.
Banks returned $600 million in stolen money to customers in the past 12 months. Meanwhile, Chin is still hoping that his hard-earned cash will find its way back into his account.
‘I wish to spread more awareness to people as this involves a lot of money that people have worked hard for,’ he said.
‘I believe there have been a lot of cases happening, but they were underreported due to embarrassment or wish for privacy.’
Australian banks have recently launched the Scam-Safe Accord to combat the ‘war on scams’, with a new confirmation of payee system and enhanced measures to detect fraud in the works.
‘As scammers work hard to devise new ways to steal money, it’s critical that governments, industry and consumers remain vigilant to make Australia a hard target for scammers,’ Customer Owned Banking Association Chief Executive Mike Lawrence said.
According to Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones, the Federal Government is also working with telecommunications companies to block scam text messages.
Scamwatch warned against sharing money or personal information with anyone uncertain about it, as fraudsters often pretend to be from organisations you 'know and trust'.
‘Scams succeed because they look like the real thing and catch you off guard when you’re not expecting it,’ the agency said.
‘Scammers take advantage of new technology, new products or services and major events to create believable stories that convince you to give them your money or personal details.’
‘Always stop, think and check before you act. Scammers rely on you not spotting these warning signs because you’re in a hurry,’ it concluded.
Similarly, you can also head over to our Scam Watch forum to stay updated with the latest tricks scammers use to deceive people out of their money and sensitive details.
Have you ever received a suspicious text or call from your bank? Let us know in the comments below.
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