A client’s scam story

We want to share the unfortunate story of a recent scam involving one of our long-term, now retired clients.

Last week they were contacted on their mobile phone number by a male who told them they were from the ‘CommBank security team and had noticed a red flag indicating an unusual transfer amount of $1800 from their savings account’ (they later suggested that an employee of the local bank branch was working alongside these ‘scammers’).

Over the course of the following 6 hours, where the scammers called our client back 7 times after repeatedly being hung up on, they finally convinced our client to let them login to their iPad by downloading a remote access software (in this case, Zo Ho Assist), which gave the scammers complete access to it.  When our client opened their bank app on the iPad, they gained full access to their bank account. Lastly, and something that our client struggles to comprehend, they were convinced to leave their bank card in the letterbox for collection by a ‘security specialist’.  

By 5.30pm, the scammers had extorted $43,000 from their savings account.

This all seems incredible and unjust; how did this happen? Well unfortunately in Australia, cases like this are on a sharp rise, and more so for older Australians.

Before we go any further, we want to stress that our client is well educated, extremely bright with exceptionally sound judgement. They have been left absolutely reeling from this experience, and wants to stop anyone else from going through the same harrowing ordeal.

What our client wants you to know

• They were rattled when they took the initial phone call, having experienced recent upsetting events, not uncommon for people of this age group,

• They were already fearful of being scammed and therefore was (normally) extremely vigilant with security and personal details,

• The scammers said they were helping a federal investigation which made it seem important.

However,

• Our client had received 12 unanswered calls in the weeks’ leading up to the call, which they had not blocked,

• The scammers used a lot of technical words which confused our client, and they knew too much ‘personal’ information such as the specifics of their bank account and local bank branch.

What is evident is that the scammers quickly took charge of the situation, and manipulated our client, to the point that they now feel like they were brainwashed. They were definitely not acting as they would normally.

What you can do to prevent being scammed

We cannot stress enough how important it is for you to double guess any calls. emails or text message you receive. Instead, hang up and call the applicable business/organisation (i.e. bank) directly to independently enquire, or delete and bock the email/text message. Never click on a link.

We also encourage you to familiarise yourself with the Australian Government website www.scamwatch.gov.au which covers all aspects of scams, from being scam-aware to what to do if you think you have been scammed.

Please also share this story with your family and friends to help spread the word. This is only one example among many, but it particularly hits home for us.