Simple text message scam leaves Aussie woman $17k poorer—‘I feel so vulnerable’
- Replies 21
In an age where technology is supposed to make our lives easier and more connected, it's a cruel irony that the same advancements can also leave us more vulnerable to fraud.
This was the harsh reality for a Melbourne mum who fell victim to a sophisticated text message scam that preyed on her trust in seemingly official communications.
Hannah's (name changed) ordeal began innocuously enough with a text message, supposedly from Australia Post, requesting an address for a package delivery.
However, when she clicked the link provided, she encountered an error message, which, apparently, was the first step in a meticulously crafted trap.
Later, a phone call from a man claiming to be from her bank's fraud detection team at Ubank informed her of a suspicious $450 transaction in Perth, which she did not recognise.
The caller's request for confirmation of whether she had clicked on any links from Australia Post, Linkt, or Toll should have been a red flag, as these are known vectors for scam texts.
Initially, Hannah believed the Australia Post text message was genuine because it didn't ask for any credit card or banking information.
The scammer's ruse was convincing.
The man, described by Hannah as having a strong Scottish or Irish accent, claimed he needed to lock down her bank account and remove malware supposedly installed by the scam text.
During a 75-minute phone call, Hannah was duped into reading out security codes generated by her bank, which the fraudster used to siphon $17,000 from her account.
She also received a text message from Ubank inquiring about a £7500 (around $14,400) purchase at Christian Dior, which made her feel relieved that she was already on the phone seeking assistance.
The realisation of the scam hit her only when personal questions were asked, and the call abruptly ended.
Upon contacting Ubank directly, the extent of the fraud became clear.
‘I saw a huge amount had been moved from savings to my other account. There were two debits for a (shoe) retailer called Laced in Brisbane—one was for $2,700 and the other $4,400 and another was a transfer of $9,900 to someone I don’t recognise,’ she recounted.
‘I was like, “What is going on? I’ve just been on [the] phone [with] the Ubank fraud detection team.” I made contact with Ubank and I checked the phone timestamps and… the Ubank said no one from their team had reached out at that time, and that was pretty shocking.’
Large sums had been transferred from her savings, and purchases were made at a shoe retailer and to an unknown recipient.
Ubank's response was disheartening; despite the transactions still being pending, they could not be stopped.
Hannah expressed concern about Ubank's response to her situation.
‘I was about to get off the phone and I said, “Something wrong has happened, it feels really wrong, it feels invasive, someone has committed a crime, shouldn’t I go to [the] police?” The woman on the phone sighed and said they would produce a report and the actions that would be taken, and then they recommended filing a police report,’ she narrated.
‘But the investigation takes up to 180 days for transactions and 45 days for transfers, so why would I wait for 180 days to wait to file a report to [the] police?’
‘I feel so vulnerable and feel really dumb,’ she added.
Hannah had to reset her phone at the Apple store and regained access to her bank account a week and a half later.
‘The problem is, when I reactivated my account, every question the person asked is what the fraudulent person asked me pretty much word for word, so it was pretty traumatic to be asked things like my full name including my middle name and full address—it was blood-curdling to do that,’ she continued.
Ubank's spokesperson stated that while they strive to recover stolen funds.
‘However, in a lot of instances, this can be extremely difficult, given the sophistication of scams and the speed at which funds are moved. In the matter raised, this is an unfortunate example of a customer falling victim to an impersonation scam,’ the spokesperson said.
They explained that if a victim has authorised the payments and provided all the necessary authentication, including passwords, PINs, or other credentials, such as one-time passwords or tokens, the likelihood of a refund is low.
‘Most banks, including Ubank, always include a message when they send a one-time password that tells the customer to never share the code with anyone, including their financial institution,’ they continued.
‘This is because using a one-time password, a fraudster can use this information for the wrong purposes like online transactions and purchases, transferring money, and identity theft.’
However, Hannah emphasised the need for changes to prevent Australians from falling victim to scams on a daily basis.
‘I just felt like there was nowhere to go, and there is a gap in the system,’ she said.
‘If the investigation time is 180 days, yet the next day my money is getting distributed and spent and it feels like no one is working on it and I have to be a in a long queue.’
Hannah's story is not an isolated incident.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), text scams have surged by 37 per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year, with Australians losing $26.9 million.
According to Scamwatch, bank impersonation scams alone accounted for over $20 million in losses from the 14,603 reports they received, while the total losses from phone and text scams saw a significant increase, surpassing $169 million.
Following her ordeal, Hannah, who works as a consultant, had also encountered clients with similar experiences.
For instance, a family member lost $120,000 over Christmas and only managed to retrieve $30,000, while another client lost their life savings.
‘This happens a lot and you think it will never happen to you and you’re vigilant enough, but it is getting quite sophisticated... but it’s quite traumatic,’ she shared.
‘I try and tell everyone so they learn form my $17,000 mistake. I feel helpless, from February 23, I did everything I could from that moment.’
‘I’m told most of [the] time, the scammers convert the money to crypto and you never get it back—I can’t believe there is no system in place to prevent this,’ she added.
Strange occurrences also persisted with Hannah's account.
Over three weeks after the scam, her bank account went into negative balance due to a transaction from a Brisbane retailer that only settled in March.
‘I had to call in to understand what was happening and was told a debit was just made by the vendor I recognised as fraudulent, while my account was supposedly locked,’ she recalled.
The Ubank spokesperson stated that upon being notified of the incident, Ubank promptly froze the remaining funds and reported the disputed transfers to the receiving banks.
‘Our recovery efforts are ongoing, but the reality is that when a customer shares passwords, the money is very often moved swiftly by the fraudster and recovery attempts are ineffective,’ they said.
At the moment, Hannah is waiting to see if she will recover any of her money, as the scam depleted a significant portion of her emergency funds.
‘I want to see something different. I don’t want to see this story next year, it’s in the millions that people will get conned, someone needs to do something at the state, federal, and international level,’ she asserted.
‘I work really hard for my money, but I joke if I change my job, I can make $20,000 in an hour and I’m not going to get caught.’
Hannah was not the first victim of this elaborate scam.
Last year, a couple lost a great sum prior to settling on their first home.
Another woman has also reportedly lost her life savings to this scam.
Meanwhile, another Ubank customer had a similar experience with Hannah, losing $20,000 in the process.
Have you or someone you know been affected by a similar scam? What do you advise to prevent these incidents from happening? Share your experiences and suggestions in the comments below.
This was the harsh reality for a Melbourne mum who fell victim to a sophisticated text message scam that preyed on her trust in seemingly official communications.
Hannah's (name changed) ordeal began innocuously enough with a text message, supposedly from Australia Post, requesting an address for a package delivery.
However, when she clicked the link provided, she encountered an error message, which, apparently, was the first step in a meticulously crafted trap.
Later, a phone call from a man claiming to be from her bank's fraud detection team at Ubank informed her of a suspicious $450 transaction in Perth, which she did not recognise.
The caller's request for confirmation of whether she had clicked on any links from Australia Post, Linkt, or Toll should have been a red flag, as these are known vectors for scam texts.
Hannah was scammed out of $17,000 after believing she was communicating with her bank's fraud detection team. Credits: Shutterstock
Initially, Hannah believed the Australia Post text message was genuine because it didn't ask for any credit card or banking information.
The scammer's ruse was convincing.
The man, described by Hannah as having a strong Scottish or Irish accent, claimed he needed to lock down her bank account and remove malware supposedly installed by the scam text.
During a 75-minute phone call, Hannah was duped into reading out security codes generated by her bank, which the fraudster used to siphon $17,000 from her account.
She also received a text message from Ubank inquiring about a £7500 (around $14,400) purchase at Christian Dior, which made her feel relieved that she was already on the phone seeking assistance.
The realisation of the scam hit her only when personal questions were asked, and the call abruptly ended.
Upon contacting Ubank directly, the extent of the fraud became clear.
‘I saw a huge amount had been moved from savings to my other account. There were two debits for a (shoe) retailer called Laced in Brisbane—one was for $2,700 and the other $4,400 and another was a transfer of $9,900 to someone I don’t recognise,’ she recounted.
‘I was like, “What is going on? I’ve just been on [the] phone [with] the Ubank fraud detection team.” I made contact with Ubank and I checked the phone timestamps and… the Ubank said no one from their team had reached out at that time, and that was pretty shocking.’
Large sums had been transferred from her savings, and purchases were made at a shoe retailer and to an unknown recipient.
Ubank's response was disheartening; despite the transactions still being pending, they could not be stopped.
Hannah expressed concern about Ubank's response to her situation.
‘I was about to get off the phone and I said, “Something wrong has happened, it feels really wrong, it feels invasive, someone has committed a crime, shouldn’t I go to [the] police?” The woman on the phone sighed and said they would produce a report and the actions that would be taken, and then they recommended filing a police report,’ she narrated.
‘But the investigation takes up to 180 days for transactions and 45 days for transfers, so why would I wait for 180 days to wait to file a report to [the] police?’
‘I feel so vulnerable and feel really dumb,’ she added.
Hannah had to reset her phone at the Apple store and regained access to her bank account a week and a half later.
‘The problem is, when I reactivated my account, every question the person asked is what the fraudulent person asked me pretty much word for word, so it was pretty traumatic to be asked things like my full name including my middle name and full address—it was blood-curdling to do that,’ she continued.
Ubank's spokesperson stated that while they strive to recover stolen funds.
‘However, in a lot of instances, this can be extremely difficult, given the sophistication of scams and the speed at which funds are moved. In the matter raised, this is an unfortunate example of a customer falling victim to an impersonation scam,’ the spokesperson said.
They explained that if a victim has authorised the payments and provided all the necessary authentication, including passwords, PINs, or other credentials, such as one-time passwords or tokens, the likelihood of a refund is low.
‘Most banks, including Ubank, always include a message when they send a one-time password that tells the customer to never share the code with anyone, including their financial institution,’ they continued.
‘This is because using a one-time password, a fraudster can use this information for the wrong purposes like online transactions and purchases, transferring money, and identity theft.’
However, Hannah emphasised the need for changes to prevent Australians from falling victim to scams on a daily basis.
‘I just felt like there was nowhere to go, and there is a gap in the system,’ she said.
‘If the investigation time is 180 days, yet the next day my money is getting distributed and spent and it feels like no one is working on it and I have to be a in a long queue.’
Hannah's story is not an isolated incident.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), text scams have surged by 37 per cent in 2023 compared to the previous year, with Australians losing $26.9 million.
According to Scamwatch, bank impersonation scams alone accounted for over $20 million in losses from the 14,603 reports they received, while the total losses from phone and text scams saw a significant increase, surpassing $169 million.
Following her ordeal, Hannah, who works as a consultant, had also encountered clients with similar experiences.
For instance, a family member lost $120,000 over Christmas and only managed to retrieve $30,000, while another client lost their life savings.
‘This happens a lot and you think it will never happen to you and you’re vigilant enough, but it is getting quite sophisticated... but it’s quite traumatic,’ she shared.
‘I try and tell everyone so they learn form my $17,000 mistake. I feel helpless, from February 23, I did everything I could from that moment.’
‘I’m told most of [the] time, the scammers convert the money to crypto and you never get it back—I can’t believe there is no system in place to prevent this,’ she added.
Strange occurrences also persisted with Hannah's account.
Over three weeks after the scam, her bank account went into negative balance due to a transaction from a Brisbane retailer that only settled in March.
‘I had to call in to understand what was happening and was told a debit was just made by the vendor I recognised as fraudulent, while my account was supposedly locked,’ she recalled.
The Ubank spokesperson stated that upon being notified of the incident, Ubank promptly froze the remaining funds and reported the disputed transfers to the receiving banks.
‘Our recovery efforts are ongoing, but the reality is that when a customer shares passwords, the money is very often moved swiftly by the fraudster and recovery attempts are ineffective,’ they said.
At the moment, Hannah is waiting to see if she will recover any of her money, as the scam depleted a significant portion of her emergency funds.
‘I want to see something different. I don’t want to see this story next year, it’s in the millions that people will get conned, someone needs to do something at the state, federal, and international level,’ she asserted.
‘I work really hard for my money, but I joke if I change my job, I can make $20,000 in an hour and I’m not going to get caught.’
Hannah was not the first victim of this elaborate scam.
Last year, a couple lost a great sum prior to settling on their first home.
Another woman has also reportedly lost her life savings to this scam.
Meanwhile, another Ubank customer had a similar experience with Hannah, losing $20,000 in the process.
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