There have been plenty of reports about the rise of scams, and while many have been done to try and combat them, sadly, there are still those who fall victim to these schemes.

Unfortunately, one grandmother named Jane was the latest victim who lost a whopping $750,000 to a scam.

Jane, an ANZ customer of nearly 50 years, had recently sold her family home and was ready to invest the money in some long-term savings when disaster struck.

The grandmother fell for an elaborate hoax as she believed she was sending the money into an ING account that would offer an attractive interest rate—but instead, the money ended up in a bogus NAB account created by scammers.

A grandmother fell victim to a scam and lost a total amount of $750,000. Image source: shurkin_son on Freepik.

Jane lost her money in the blink of an eye and said she had contacted both ANZ and NAB about the mistake but was told her money was gone for good. She was then warned that it was unlikely that she would receive much of the money back.

It is understood that Australians are encouraged to reach out to their banks if they have been victimised by a scam.

In comparison the UK, where new laws yet to be implemented in the coming year, will require banks to refund victims of scams within days unless proven to have acted negligently or fraudulently.

Australians are not necessarily entitled to the same compensation.

ANZ eventually agreed to return $1000 to Jane but said it couldn’t do much else. Understandably, Jane was absolutely devastated and expected much more support from her bank.

'I used to have ultimate faith in the banking system,' she said.

'But my money would have been safer under my mattress.'

Jane’s daughter, Sarah, who shared her mum’s pain, said: 'You feel that lump in your throat...to realise that my mum had been a victim of such a massive crime.'

Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Law Action Centre also added that bank impersonation scams are becoming far more common and difficult to recognise for average people.

'We’ve dropped the ball because we don’t have any form of strict regulation that says who is responsible,' she said.

In similar news, Artificial Intelligence (AI) voice cloning scams have become more sophisticated.

This scam involves cybercriminals stealing a victim’s voice from social media and using it to fool unsuspecting family members with a fearmongering phone call. This is done in the hopes of receiving money or access to private information.

You can find out more about this story and how to stay safe from such scams here.

This story comes after reports of another senior was targetted by scammers shortly before being diagnosed with dementia at age 78.

Victor, Alex's son, said he found out about the missing money when he and his father had recently visited their local ANZ branch—apparently, almost half a million dollars had been stolen from Alex's account.

Alex, however, had meticulously noted down names and details of conversations with the strangers who had contacted him.

To Victor’s surprise, the bank sent them a letter three months later letting him know they would reimburse the scam transactions on his father’s bank account.

You can read more about this here.

Members, it’s important that we keep ourselves educated and vigilant when it comes to scammers and their sneaky tactics, to ensure we as well as our loved ones don’t fall into the same traps.

You can find out about the latest news on scams on our Scam Watch forum here.

Make sure your family and friends remain aware of the most common scams out there, and if you happen to be a victim of fraud, it’s essential to call your bank as soon as possible and report the incident to Scamwatch to help protect others.

Key Takeaways

• An Australian grandmother named Jane was scammed out of $750,000 after falling for a hoax involving a fake NAB account.
  
• Jane contacted both ANZ and NAB after realising the scam, but was told her money was lost and she would likely not receive much of it back.
  
• Unlike in the UK, where new laws will force banks to refund victims of scams within days, Australians are not necessarily entitled to compensation for funds lost to scammers.
  
• Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Law Action Centre noted the increase in bank impersonation scams and stated that Australia lacks strict regulation concerning responsibility in these situations.
  

Members, how do you stay safe from the different types of scams nowadays? Share your tips with us below!

 

[Countryjohn]

There have been plenty of reports about the rise of scams, and while many have been done to try and combat them, sadly, there are still those who fall victim to these schemes.

Unfortunately, one grandmother named Jane was the latest victim who lost a whopping $750,000 to a scam.

Jane, an ANZ customer of nearly 50 years, had recently sold her family home and was ready to invest the money in some long-term savings when disaster struck.

The grandmother fell for an elaborate hoax as she believed she was sending the money into an ING account that would offer an attractive interest rate—but instead, the money ended up in a bogus NAB account created by scammers.

View attachment 31271

A grandmother fell victim to a scam and lost a total amount of $750,000. Image source: shurkin_son on Freepik.

Jane lost her money in the blink of an eye and said she had contacted both ANZ and NAB about the mistake but was told her money was gone for good. She was then warned that it was unlikely that she would receive much of the money back.

It is understood that Australians are encouraged to reach out to their banks if they have been victimised by a scam.

In comparison the UK, where new laws yet to be implemented in the coming year, will require banks to refund victims of scams within days unless proven to have acted negligently or fraudulently.

Australians are not necessarily entitled to the same compensation.

ANZ eventually agreed to return $1000 to Jane but said it couldn’t do much else. Understandably, Jane was absolutely devastated and expected much more support from her bank.

'I used to have ultimate faith in the banking system,' she said.

'But my money would have been safer under my mattress.'

Jane’s daughter, Sarah, who shared her mum’s pain, said: 'You feel that lump in your throat...to realise that my mum had been a victim of such a massive crime.'

Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Law Action Centre also added that bank impersonation scams are becoming far more common and difficult to recognise for average people.

'We’ve dropped the ball because we don’t have any form of strict regulation that says who is responsible,' she said.

In similar news, Artificial Intelligence (AI) voice cloning scams have become more sophisticated.

This scam involves cybercriminals stealing a victim’s voice from social media and using it to fool unsuspecting family members with a fearmongering phone call. This is done in the hopes of receiving money or access to private information.

You can find out more about this story and how to stay safe from such scams here.

This story comes after reports of another senior was targetted by scammers shortly before being diagnosed with dementia at age 78.

Victor, Alex's son, said he found out about the missing money when he and his father had recently visited their local ANZ branch—apparently, almost half a million dollars had been stolen from Alex's account.

Alex, however, had meticulously noted down names and details of conversations with the strangers who had contacted him.

To Victor’s surprise, the bank sent them a letter three months later letting him know they would reimburse the scam transactions on his father’s bank account.

You can read more about this here.

Members, it’s important that we keep ourselves educated and vigilant when it comes to scammers and their sneaky tactics, to ensure we as well as our loved ones don’t fall into the same traps.

You can find out about the latest news on scams on our Scam Watch forum here.

Make sure your family and friends remain aware of the most common scams out there, and if you happen to be a victim of fraud, it’s essential to call your bank as soon as possible and report the incident to Scamwatch to help protect others.

Key Takeaways

• An Australian grandmother named Jane was scammed out of $750,000 after falling for a hoax involving a fake NAB account.
• Jane contacted both ANZ and NAB after realising the scam, but was told her money was lost and she would likely not receive much of it back.
• Unlike in the UK, where new laws will force banks to refund victims of scams within days, Australians are not necessarily entitled to compensation for funds lost to scammers.
• Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Law Action Centre noted the increase in bank impersonation scams and stated that Australia lacks strict regulation concerning responsibility in these situations.

Members, how do you stay safe from the different types of scams nowadays? Share your tips with us below!

I lost my life savings transferring my money into an ING account. CBA did nothing at all and ING were helpful.
I had everything written down including copies of transactions, phone numbers, emails etc and all was forwarded to police who promptly lost my report!!! I don’t trust, banks, police any more!

 

[Herbie1950]

There have been plenty of reports about the rise of scams, and while many have been done to try and combat them, sadly, there are still those who fall victim to these schemes.

Unfortunately, one grandmother named Jane was the latest victim who lost a whopping $750,000 to a scam.

Jane, an ANZ customer of nearly 50 years, had recently sold her family home and was ready to invest the money in some long-term savings when disaster struck.

The grandmother fell for an elaborate hoax as she believed she was sending the money into an ING account that would offer an attractive interest rate—but instead, the money ended up in a bogus NAB account created by scammers.

View attachment 31271

A grandmother fell victim to a scam and lost a total amount of $750,000. Image source: shurkin_son on Freepik.

Jane lost her money in the blink of an eye and said she had contacted both ANZ and NAB about the mistake but was told her money was gone for good. She was then warned that it was unlikely that she would receive much of the money back.

It is understood that Australians are encouraged to reach out to their banks if they have been victimised by a scam.

In comparison the UK, where new laws yet to be implemented in the coming year, will require banks to refund victims of scams within days unless proven to have acted negligently or fraudulently.

Australians are not necessarily entitled to the same compensation.

ANZ eventually agreed to return $1000 to Jane but said it couldn’t do much else. Understandably, Jane was absolutely devastated and expected much more support from her bank.

'I used to have ultimate faith in the banking system,' she said.

'But my money would have been safer under my mattress.'

Jane’s daughter, Sarah, who shared her mum’s pain, said: 'You feel that lump in your throat...to realise that my mum had been a victim of such a massive crime.'

Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Law Action Centre also added that bank impersonation scams are becoming far more common and difficult to recognise for average people.

'We’ve dropped the ball because we don’t have any form of strict regulation that says who is responsible,' she said.

In similar news, Artificial Intelligence (AI) voice cloning scams have become more sophisticated.

This scam involves cybercriminals stealing a victim’s voice from social media and using it to fool unsuspecting family members with a fearmongering phone call. This is done in the hopes of receiving money or access to private information.

You can find out more about this story and how to stay safe from such scams here.

This story comes after reports of another senior was targetted by scammers shortly before being diagnosed with dementia at age 78.

Victor, Alex's son, said he found out about the missing money when he and his father had recently visited their local ANZ branch—apparently, almost half a million dollars had been stolen from Alex's account.

Alex, however, had meticulously noted down names and details of conversations with the strangers who had contacted him.

To Victor’s surprise, the bank sent them a letter three months later letting him know they would reimburse the scam transactions on his father’s bank account.

You can read more about this here.

Members, it’s important that we keep ourselves educated and vigilant when it comes to scammers and their sneaky tactics, to ensure we as well as our loved ones don’t fall into the same traps.

You can find out about the latest news on scams on our Scam Watch forum here.

Make sure your family and friends remain aware of the most common scams out there, and if you happen to be a victim of fraud, it’s essential to call your bank as soon as possible and report the incident to Scamwatch to help protect others.

Key Takeaways

• An Australian grandmother named Jane was scammed out of $750,000 after falling for a hoax involving a fake NAB account.
• Jane contacted both ANZ and NAB after realising the scam, but was told her money was lost and she would likely not receive much of it back.
• Unlike in the UK, where new laws will force banks to refund victims of scams within days, Australians are not necessarily entitled to compensation for funds lost to scammers.
• Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Law Action Centre noted the increase in bank impersonation scams and stated that Australia lacks strict regulation concerning responsibility in these situations.

Members, how do you stay safe from the different types of scams nowadays? Share your tips with us below!

.Banks don’t email “deals” to you, nor do they ever request your personal details this way.
.If it’s sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
.Delete unknown emails with link attachments immediately without opening them.
. Scams are coming in via text message.common ones saying your parcel can’t be delivered and asking you to update your details…. Forward these messages to phone number 7226 which is a Telstra number and they shut the accounts down.
. VPN so you can’t be tracked.

 

[mylittletibbies]

With so much money involved, and so many scams these days I don't understand why you wouldn't go to the bank personally to do such a transaction.
I can't believe that people can be so flippant with their money, and she apparently did this in three separate transactions.
Why is the bank responsible for your own carelessness. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions these days.
I feel extremely sorry for this lady, but I still don't see that it is the banks fault.

 

[BruceC]

.Banks don’t email “deals” to you, nor do they ever request your personal details this way.
.If it’s sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
.Delete unknown emails with link attachments immediately without opening them.
. Scams are coming in via text message.common ones saying your parcel can’t be delivered and asking you to update your details…. Forward these messages to phone number 7226 which is a Telstra number and they shut the accounts down.
. VPN so you can’t be tracked.

Well said!
I am sick of these daily reports of stupid people being scammed.
No sympathy whatsoever for people who lose their money like this.

 

[jojo3241]

.Banks don’t email “deals” to you, nor do they ever request your personal details this way.
.If it’s sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
.Delete unknown emails with link attachments immediately without opening them.
. Scams are coming in via text message.common ones saying your parcel can’t be delivered and asking you to update your details…. Forward these messages to phone number 7226 which is a Telstra number and they shut the accounts down.
. VPN so you can’t be tracked.

Didn't know about the 7226 number, that's good to know
ta muchly

 

[Suzanne rose]

I lost my life savings transferring my money into an ING account. CBA did nothing at all and ING were helpful.
I had everything written down including copies of transactions, phone numbers, emails etc and all was forwarded to police who promptly lost my report!!! I don’t trust, banks, police any more!

Can I ask how did you transfer and why ?

 

[Suzanne rose]

Why is this still happening, why aren't people asking for a reference number then calling their bank using the number they already know or look it up.

I can't believe this is still happening

 

[Dennis]

There have been plenty of reports about the rise of scams, and while many have been done to try and combat them, sadly, there are still those who fall victim to these schemes.

Unfortunately, one grandmother named Jane was the latest victim who lost a whopping $750,000 to a scam.

Jane, an ANZ customer of nearly 50 years, had recently sold her family home and was ready to invest the money in some long-term savings when disaster struck.

The grandmother fell for an elaborate hoax as she believed she was sending the money into an ING account that would offer an attractive interest rate—but instead, the money ended up in a bogus NAB account created by scammers.

View attachment 31271

A grandmother fell victim to a scam and lost a total amount of $750,000. Image source: shurkin_son on Freepik.

Jane lost her money in the blink of an eye and said she had contacted both ANZ and NAB about the mistake but was told her money was gone for good. She was then warned that it was unlikely that she would receive much of the money back.

It is understood that Australians are encouraged to reach out to their banks if they have been victimised by a scam.

In comparison the UK, where new laws yet to be implemented in the coming year, will require banks to refund victims of scams within days unless proven to have acted negligently or fraudulently.

Australians are not necessarily entitled to the same compensation.

ANZ eventually agreed to return $1000 to Jane but said it couldn’t do much else. Understandably, Jane was absolutely devastated and expected much more support from her bank.

'I used to have ultimate faith in the banking system,' she said.

'But my money would have been safer under my mattress.'

Jane’s daughter, Sarah, who shared her mum’s pain, said: 'You feel that lump in your throat...to realise that my mum had been a victim of such a massive crime.'

Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Law Action Centre also added that bank impersonation scams are becoming far more common and difficult to recognise for average people.

'We’ve dropped the ball because we don’t have any form of strict regulation that says who is responsible,' she said.

In similar news, Artificial Intelligence (AI) voice cloning scams have become more sophisticated.

This scam involves cybercriminals stealing a victim’s voice from social media and using it to fool unsuspecting family members with a fearmongering phone call. This is done in the hopes of receiving money or access to private information.

You can find out more about this story and how to stay safe from such scams here.

This story comes after reports of another senior was targetted by scammers shortly before being diagnosed with dementia at age 78.

Victor, Alex's son, said he found out about the missing money when he and his father had recently visited their local ANZ branch—apparently, almost half a million dollars had been stolen from Alex's account.

Alex, however, had meticulously noted down names and details of conversations with the strangers who had contacted him.

To Victor’s surprise, the bank sent them a letter three months later letting him know they would reimburse the scam transactions on his father’s bank account.

You can read more about this here.

Members, it’s important that we keep ourselves educated and vigilant when it comes to scammers and their sneaky tactics, to ensure we as well as our loved ones don’t fall into the same traps.

You can find out about the latest news on scams on our Scam Watch forum here.

Make sure your family and friends remain aware of the most common scams out there, and if you happen to be a victim of fraud, it’s essential to call your bank as soon as possible and report the incident to Scamwatch to help protect others.

Key Takeaways

• An Australian grandmother named Jane was scammed out of $750,000 after falling for a hoax involving a fake NAB account.
• Jane contacted both ANZ and NAB after realising the scam, but was told her money was lost and she would likely not receive much of it back.
• Unlike in the UK, where new laws will force banks to refund victims of scams within days, Australians are not necessarily entitled to compensation for funds lost to scammers.
• Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Law Action Centre noted the increase in bank impersonation scams and stated that Australia lacks strict regulation concerning responsibility in these situations.

Members, how do you stay safe from the different types of scams nowadays? Share your tips with us below!

A lot of these people who lose big amounts of money to scammers seem to put their money in deposits to get bigger Interest rates, beware of the dollar signs before your eyes it could cause you big trouble.

 

[mylittletibbies]

A lot of these people who lose big amounts of money to scammers seem to put their money in deposits to get bigger Interest rates, beware of the dollar signs before your eyes it could cause you big trouble.

Yes, people's common sense seems to get blinded by dollar signs
The old saying, if it seems to good to be true, then it usually is.

 

[Sandie1952]

With so much money involved, and so many scams these days I don't understand why you wouldn't go to the bank personally to do such a transaction.
I can't believe that people can be so flippant with their money, and she apparently did this in three separate transactions.
Why is the bank responsible for your own carelessness. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions these days.
I feel extremely sorry for this lady, but I still don't see that it is the banks fault.

The banks take your money they have a responsibility to keep it safe. My bank has a 24/7 fraud team protecting my money I almost got scammed as well but I got an email immediately warning me there was suspicious activity on my account and the funds they had tried to withdraw was placed on hold until they heard from me. I was told in their email to ring them immediately and this was at midnight. All banks should be safeguarding your money even while you sleep

 

[mylittletibbies]

The banks take your money they have a responsibility to keep it safe. My bank has a 24/7 fraud team protecting my money I almost got scammed as well but I got an email immediately warning me there was suspicious activity on my account and the funds they had tried to withdraw was placed on hold until they heard from me. I was told in their email to ring them immediately and this was at midnight. All banks should be safeguarding your money even while you sleep

This wasn't somebody accessing her account, she transferred the money herself directly to their account .
Different scenario.

 

[Penny4]

"Unlike in the UK, where new laws will force banks to refund victims of scams within days, Australians are not necessarily entitled to compensation for funds lost to scammers."
Not sure I like the sound of this happening with banks in Australia - for refunding customers who were casual for sending scammers their personal hard earning money.
Hopefully, banking won't revert back to the dark ages with technology ie. transferring money will take longer - to compensate for customers to take a breather for a few days/week.
Instead of an instant, it will take days or weeks.
Now, that's fine except sometimes that's not always suitable in some cases.
If banks start repaying customers, there has to be something that they change.
This won't be fair for the rest of society.
I do feel sorry for unsuspecting customers who get scammed, however people need to be more savvy with their money.

 

[Aussie all the Way]

It is definitely NOT the Banks responsibility to pay money back to people, WHY should they, they did NOT send the money to SCAMMERS the owner of the ACCOUNT did. If the Bank is made to pay this money back to IDIOTS I don't know how many times people need to be told check it out properly before you do anything as in GO TO THE BANK AND SET EVERYTHING UP DON'T TRUST ONLINE FOOLS. BANK fees will skyrocket to cover this.

 

[Sandie1952]

This wasn't somebody accessing her account, she transferred the money herself directly to their account .
Different scenario.

Oh right sorry didn’t read the whole article you’re correct

 

[BillW41]

With so much money involved, and so many scams these days I don't understand why you wouldn't go to the bank personally to do such a transaction.
I can't believe that people can be so flippant with their money, and she apparently did this in three separate transactions.
Why is the bank responsible for your own carelessness. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions these days.
I feel extremely sorry for this lady, but I still don't see that it is the banks fault.

As a retired banker in the UK and Australia, my understanding has always been (for 60 years) that the banks in both countries are obliged to reimburse victims of banking fraud.

 

[NotNats]

There have been plenty of reports about the rise of scams, and while many have been done to try and combat them, sadly, there are still those who fall victim to these schemes.

Unfortunately, one grandmother named Jane was the latest victim who lost a whopping $750,000 to a scam.

Jane, an ANZ customer of nearly 50 years, had recently sold her family home and was ready to invest the money in some long-term savings when disaster struck.

The grandmother fell for an elaborate hoax as she believed she was sending the money into an ING account that would offer an attractive interest rate—but instead, the money ended up in a bogus NAB account created by scammers.

View attachment 31271

A grandmother fell victim to a scam and lost a total amount of $750,000. Image source: shurkin_son on Freepik.

Jane lost her money in the blink of an eye and said she had contacted both ANZ and NAB about the mistake but was told her money was gone for good. She was then warned that it was unlikely that she would receive much of the money back.

It is understood that Australians are encouraged to reach out to their banks if they have been victimised by a scam.

In comparison the UK, where new laws yet to be implemented in the coming year, will require banks to refund victims of scams within days unless proven to have acted negligently or fraudulently.

Australians are not necessarily entitled to the same compensation.

ANZ eventually agreed to return $1000 to Jane but said it couldn’t do much else. Understandably, Jane was absolutely devastated and expected much more support from her bank.

'I used to have ultimate faith in the banking system,' she said.

'But my money would have been safer under my mattress.'

Jane’s daughter, Sarah, who shared her mum’s pain, said: 'You feel that lump in your throat...to realise that my mum had been a victim of such a massive crime.'

Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Law Action Centre also added that bank impersonation scams are becoming far more common and difficult to recognise for average people.

'We’ve dropped the ball because we don’t have any form of strict regulation that says who is responsible,' she said.

In similar news, Artificial Intelligence (AI) voice cloning scams have become more sophisticated.

This scam involves cybercriminals stealing a victim’s voice from social media and using it to fool unsuspecting family members with a fearmongering phone call. This is done in the hopes of receiving money or access to private information.

You can find out more about this story and how to stay safe from such scams here.

This story comes after reports of another senior was targetted by scammers shortly before being diagnosed with dementia at age 78.

Victor, Alex's son, said he found out about the missing money when he and his father had recently visited their local ANZ branch—apparently, almost half a million dollars had been stolen from Alex's account.

Alex, however, had meticulously noted down names and details of conversations with the strangers who had contacted him.

To Victor’s surprise, the bank sent them a letter three months later letting him know they would reimburse the scam transactions on his father’s bank account.

You can read more about this here.

Members, it’s important that we keep ourselves educated and vigilant when it comes to scammers and their sneaky tactics, to ensure we as well as our loved ones don’t fall into the same traps.

You can find out about the latest news on scams on our Scam Watch forum here.

Make sure your family and friends remain aware of the most common scams out there, and if you happen to be a victim of fraud, it’s essential to call your bank as soon as possible and report the incident to Scamwatch to help protect others.

Key Takeaways

• An Australian grandmother named Jane was scammed out of $750,000 after falling for a hoax involving a fake NAB account.
• Jane contacted both ANZ and NAB after realising the scam, but was told her money was lost and she would likely not receive much of it back.
• Unlike in the UK, where new laws will force banks to refund victims of scams within days, Australians are not necessarily entitled to compensation for funds lost to scammers.
• Stephanie Tonkin from the Consumer Law Action Centre noted the increase in bank impersonation scams and stated that Australia lacks strict regulation concerning responsibility in these situations.

Members, how do you stay safe from the different types of scams nowadays? Share your tips with us below!

I know how Jane feels - I lost over $500,000 way back in 2019 thanks to ID Fraud/Hacker. Bank was unhelpful because at their end it looked like I had transferred the money. But I wasn't shocked by their answer (even then) as I learnt back in the 1980's that banks only care if it doesn't cost them anything. But that's like most companies & people. Sad to say but I have very little to no trust where money is concerned these days. NO ONE is safe from these low life's no matter how much you try. I had safety measures in place up to the wazoo and still it didn't save me.

My safe tip is - invent a time machine and go back in time before the so called WWW was invented. The "Digital Age" is a cesspool of lowlifes.

 

[mylittletibbies]

As a retired banker in the UK and Australia, my understanding has always been (for 60 years) that the banks in both countries are obliged to reimburse victims of banking fraud.

Apparently not here.
I feel that if they were to do that then even more people would be scammed, because they would be even more careless, thinking there would be no consequence to their own stupidity .

 

[Penny4]

As a retired banker in the UK and Australia, my understanding has always been (for 60 years) that the banks in both countries are obliged to reimburse victims of banking fraud.

Is it a fraud when customers intentionally transfer their money to scammers?

 

[mylittletibbies]

Is it a fraud when customers intentionally transfer their money to scammers?

I don't think so, but just my opinion, maybe others think differently.
Maybe I'll check the dictionary and see what the exact, correct definition of fraud actually is.