Scam Alert: How this heartless scheme conned a vulnerable Aussie out of $3,500
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Online scammers have always been a thorn in the side of many, including the authorities, but with the rise of social media networks, these despicable criminals have had more opportunities to victimise unsuspecting people.
And recently, a South East Melbourne man found out firsthand how cruel some people can be when he was duped out of $3,500 by a woman he met online.
Mark Golotta was tricked into investing in a fake cryptocurrency scheme.
According to Mark, he was 22 years old when he was hit by a car while riding his motorbike to work. The accident left him paraplegic.
‘The motorbike accident left me in a wheelchair. So, my mental health was pretty bad as it was,’ he said.
To find some solace during the pandemic, he joined a social media networking site, Meet Me, to meet friends and talk to people online.
Mark recalled: ‘I came across this one girl who blew me off at first, and then she hit me back some weeks later. She told me about a Chinese stock market exchange.’
The woman claimed she was making big money through trading, and to prove it, she had given Mark the login credentials to her account so he could witness the investments’ performance.
According to Mark, the trading website looked ‘legitimate as could be’, and was convinced that he could make money from it. He decided to buy $3,500 worth of cryptocurrency and invested it through the website.
However, he only realised something was wrong when he noticed the ‘sell’ feature on the site was greyed out. Mark asked his friend about it, but the woman claimed the investment hadn’t matured yet.
‘But then, my maturity date came and went, and I still couldn’t sell. So, that was quite a whack to the face,’ Mark admitted.
Eventually, his efforts to contact the woman became unsuccessful as she stopped answering his messages. The trading website where he invested his money also stopped working.
‘We exchanged pictures and whatnot. I thought I was talking to a real person, but the photos were always somewhere else of her holidaying because she’d made money off this site,’ Mark shared.
He continued: ‘I should have seen it coming. There were signs, but they weren’t obvious at the time.’
Money loss due to scams has risen
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Scamwatch reported that 16,473 people with disabilities were scammed in 2022, which amounted to losses of $33.7 million.
This was 71 per cent higher than the financial losses compared to 2021.
Sue Boyce, CEO of Ability Works, claimed that people with disabilities could be more susceptible to scams due to social isolation.
'People with disabilities tend to be more prone to people who try to make friends with them online via the usual social media sites,' said Boyce.
He explained: 'Because of the social-isolation aspect, they are more vulnerable, and they [may] fall for scams where someone is pretending to be really friendly and, because they are lonely, they will talk to them and get taken for a ride.’
Mr Boyce also pointed out that some of the safety precautions in protecting one’s cybersecurity, such as setting a long and complex password, may not be suitable for people with cognitive or intellectual disabilities.
‘It makes it really complicated because that means a lot of people have to be able to use technology. Passwords get forgotten, and then you write it down on a piece of paper, which you can leave lying around—all that is increased risk,’ Boyce said.
As for Mark, he was unable to recover the thousands of dollars he had lost. He admitted he was embarrassed about the experience, and he became less trusting of people online.
‘I don’t go looking for people anymore. I’m done with that. Rip me off once, shame on you. Rip me off twice, shame on me,’ Mark stated.
He left a bit of simple advice to help others avoid scams: ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it normally is. If you’re going to invest, you want to do your homework. I took chances, and those chances didn’t pay off,’ he said.
Fortunately since the incident, Mark had been ‘kicking goals’ in his life. He met his wife through work and will head off on their honeymoon next week.
If you ever encounter something that doesn’t feel right online, be sure to get in touch with your bank and/or local authorities right away.
You can also visit our Scam Watch forum to learn more about other scams.
What do you think of this story, members? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
And recently, a South East Melbourne man found out firsthand how cruel some people can be when he was duped out of $3,500 by a woman he met online.
Mark Golotta was tricked into investing in a fake cryptocurrency scheme.
According to Mark, he was 22 years old when he was hit by a car while riding his motorbike to work. The accident left him paraplegic.
‘The motorbike accident left me in a wheelchair. So, my mental health was pretty bad as it was,’ he said.
Mark Golotta was scammed out of $3,500 in a bogus cryptocurrency scheme. Credit: Kanchanara/Unsplash
To find some solace during the pandemic, he joined a social media networking site, Meet Me, to meet friends and talk to people online.
Mark recalled: ‘I came across this one girl who blew me off at first, and then she hit me back some weeks later. She told me about a Chinese stock market exchange.’
The woman claimed she was making big money through trading, and to prove it, she had given Mark the login credentials to her account so he could witness the investments’ performance.
According to Mark, the trading website looked ‘legitimate as could be’, and was convinced that he could make money from it. He decided to buy $3,500 worth of cryptocurrency and invested it through the website.
However, he only realised something was wrong when he noticed the ‘sell’ feature on the site was greyed out. Mark asked his friend about it, but the woman claimed the investment hadn’t matured yet.
‘But then, my maturity date came and went, and I still couldn’t sell. So, that was quite a whack to the face,’ Mark admitted.
Eventually, his efforts to contact the woman became unsuccessful as she stopped answering his messages. The trading website where he invested his money also stopped working.
‘We exchanged pictures and whatnot. I thought I was talking to a real person, but the photos were always somewhere else of her holidaying because she’d made money off this site,’ Mark shared.
He continued: ‘I should have seen it coming. There were signs, but they weren’t obvious at the time.’
Money loss due to scams has risen
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Scamwatch reported that 16,473 people with disabilities were scammed in 2022, which amounted to losses of $33.7 million.
This was 71 per cent higher than the financial losses compared to 2021.
Sue Boyce, CEO of Ability Works, claimed that people with disabilities could be more susceptible to scams due to social isolation.
'People with disabilities tend to be more prone to people who try to make friends with them online via the usual social media sites,' said Boyce.
He explained: 'Because of the social-isolation aspect, they are more vulnerable, and they [may] fall for scams where someone is pretending to be really friendly and, because they are lonely, they will talk to them and get taken for a ride.’
Mr Boyce also pointed out that some of the safety precautions in protecting one’s cybersecurity, such as setting a long and complex password, may not be suitable for people with cognitive or intellectual disabilities.
‘It makes it really complicated because that means a lot of people have to be able to use technology. Passwords get forgotten, and then you write it down on a piece of paper, which you can leave lying around—all that is increased risk,’ Boyce said.
As for Mark, he was unable to recover the thousands of dollars he had lost. He admitted he was embarrassed about the experience, and he became less trusting of people online.
‘I don’t go looking for people anymore. I’m done with that. Rip me off once, shame on you. Rip me off twice, shame on me,’ Mark stated.
He left a bit of simple advice to help others avoid scams: ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it normally is. If you’re going to invest, you want to do your homework. I took chances, and those chances didn’t pay off,’ he said.
Fortunately since the incident, Mark had been ‘kicking goals’ in his life. He met his wife through work and will head off on their honeymoon next week.
If you ever encounter something that doesn’t feel right online, be sure to get in touch with your bank and/or local authorities right away.
You can also visit our Scam Watch forum to learn more about other scams.
What do you think of this story, members? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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