The digital age has brought us many conveniences, but with those conveniences come new risks, particularly in personal finance.

The story of a Melbourne woman who lost her life savings of $44,000 to scammers in just 25 minutes is a stark reminder of the dangers lurking online.

Gay de Beer's experience is a cautionary tale for all of us, especially for those in the over-60s community who may be more vulnerable to such scams.

Gay was working on her laptop when a message claimed she had a major virus.

A phone number, purportedly from Microsoft, was provided to help resolve the issue.

A remote access scam stole $44,000 from a Melbourne woman's account in just 25 minutes. Credit: Shutterstock

In a moment of panic, Gay called the number and was convinced to give the scammers remote access to her computer.

They claimed to secure her PayPal and debit card details from unauthorised access.

Tragically, between 12:26 pm and 1:00 pm, the scammers transferred her entire life savings from her Bendigo Bank account.

The situation escalated when Gay, realising what was happening, rushed to her local bank branch.

The transfer continued despite being present at the bank while the final transaction was processed.

The transfers were made in nonsensical names, raising the question of why the bank's systems did not flag this unusual activity.

The emotional and financial impact on Gay has been devastating.

She has expressed feelings of hopelessness and has struggled with her mental health.

The loss of her funds meant to cover her living expenses, including rent and car payments, has left her in a precarious position.

She is now reliant on her pension, which barely covers her rent.

Gay's case is not isolated. Another Bendigo Bank customer, Sylvie Leber, lost her life savings of $20,000 to a similar scam.

These incidents highlight the need for increased vigilance and better support for fraud victims.

Bendigo Bank faced an outage that disrupted its e-banking and app, preventing customers from accessing online services.

The issue was acknowledged Thursday afternoon, and services were restored by 1:45 PM. You can read more about it here.

Key Takeaways

• A Melbourne woman lost her life savings of $44,000 within 25 minutes due to a remote access scam, where scammers gained control of her computer and bank account.
• Despite being at a Bendigo Bank branch while the final transaction occurred, she could not prevent the loss, and the bank's systems failed to identify the fraudulent activity.
• The victim, Gay de Beer, is facing significant financial and mental health difficulties following the scam, and she has criticised the bank for not showing empathy and not reimbursing her losses fully, except for a $2000 goodwill payment, which she rejected.
• Bendigo Bank asserts the importance of cyber security and customer self-protection, mentioning ongoing efforts to combat scams and fraud, but highlights that recovery of funds from scammers is tough.

How can you protect yourself from online scams and prevent remote device access? Should banks do more to flag suspicious transactions and protect customers from fraud? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.

 

[deni67]

I like that movie "Death Becomes Her" too. Very clever the way it runs. My favourite movie is that with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson "A Star is Born". I cry every time I watch it when his character dies.

I loved Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford in "The Way We Were", I cried buckets and have watched it several times.

 

[deni67]

I'm an amateur compared to @Littleboy8 and @Suzanne rose. Maybe some others as well!

I wonder how long they have been here.

When you cut it all down, and if my math is correct, which is probably isn't, you post approximately 18 posts a day, well done

 

[deni67]

I'm an amateur compared to @Littleboy8 and @Suzanne rose. Maybe some others as well!

Woah.............I just checked Littleboy and he's been here about the same as you and made over 24,000 posts

 

[Veggiepatch]

I wonder how long they have been here.

When you cut it all down, and if my math is correct, which is probably isn't, you post approximately 18 posts a day, well done

For @Littleboy8, she has been on SDC about two months longer than me and for @Suzanne rose, 13 months longer.

@Littleboy8 averages a whopping 46 posts a day!

 

[Veggiepatch]

Woah.............I just checked Littleboy and he's been here about the same as you and made over 24,000 posts

Beat me to it!!

 

[MariaG]

Poorly educated, lonesome. How rude of you to assume people who have been scammed are like this. Think you need an education on manners.

People who are not educated in the www world are more vulnerable...my darling mother was one of them. She had absolutely no interest in learning anything to do with the internet. If she did not have my sister and I there to guide her, anything may have happened.
People who live isolated lives without the backing of company of family or friends to help keep them protected are more vulnerable. I guess they run the risk at being lonely as well.
Talking about manners, perhaps sometimes it is realistic to understand there a many types of people out there who, for whatever reason, fall victim to scams. I consider myself polite and NEVER label people without having the time to get to know them. Don't assume that I have slotted ALL victims into categories.

 

[Littleboy8]

For @Littleboy8, she has been on SDC about two months longer than me and for @Suzanne rose, 13 months longer.

@Littleboy8 averages a whopping 46 posts a day!

Maybe we should get a $100.00 coles or woollies voucher each
Anyway I play the games all the time I very rarely post on other things.meow.

 

[marni]

You can only be yourself and l'm sure everyone looks forward to your comments like l do .

Nope he is in my “ignore” button

 

[Koda]

They'd be pushing poo uphill to get anything out of me. By choice, I don't have a camera, or microphone.
Messages like this are aimed at the vulnerable and/or unprotected, poorly educated, lonesome individuals.
Point is, if you cannot ID scammers, don't be in full control of your finances. Have someone you trust work with you every step of the way.
That's what I did for my mum and she was able to live her last few years without having to concern herself with learning how to access that internet thing. She did all her major banking over the counter with my sister or I in attendance, and, 2nd signatures were necessary for her to carry out transfers and bill payments, or the like. The only difficulty I encountered was the odd bank teller refusing to deal with my mother and I at the same time. The words Dementia and Power of Attorney sorted that out quick smart.
One thing I never offered mum was the power of an App. Could be dangerous in the hands of someone who is behind the 8 ball when it comes to communications.

That’s great but banks are closing down over the counter service

 

[Koda]

I find it sad that people make fools of those that have been scammed take into account these scammers are very clever and the innocent and older people are their victims a lot of older folks cannot keep up with the spiralling changes and the banks don’t make it easy for them either by closing services so please don’t be nasty

 

[Chicky]

I delete anything that I don't know or I'm suspicious of . If it is important they will ring me or send me a letter. Or I ask my kids for which I am very lucky to have.

 

[Veggiepatch]

Nope he is in my “ignore” button

I'm crying into my coffee after that comment.

Trouble is I don't drink coffee....

Unfortunately, there is not an "IGNORANT" button.

 

[deni67]

Another good idea is not to use an ATM machine, you never know if there is a skimmer attached, they can be hard to spot.
Always go to a supermarket like Woolies or Coles etc and make a withdrawal there, you don't need to buy anything usually but if you do just get a packet of chewies or something cheap.