'My money should be safe,' says woman who had $30k vanish from account but was only offered $5k back & 'left in limbo' | 1NJD01J | 2024-05-01 05:08:01
A WOMAN has lost almost $35,000 after an elaborate scam drained her life savings.
In October, Rachel De Candia received an email that Netflix had charged her account twice.
The Melbourne woman replied with her bank details as requested, hoping to receive a refund.
De Candia had inadvertently sent her information to a team of scammers, and they were able to contact her on her private number a week later.
"I received a call from a no-caller-ID saying they were from NAB [National Australia Bank] fraud security," she told Yahoo Finance.
"They told me that there had been an unusual transaction on my account that they had canceled.
"They said my entire account has been compromised and I need to transfer my money out.
"They also said that my cards were copied at some point so I had to send them for forensics."
De Candia believed she was speaking to her bank so she followed their instructions and transferred $6,040 into a new account the bank had supposedly set up in her name.
Later that day, an Uber arrived at her home to collect her bank cards.
She has since acknowledged that the situation was peculiar, but she still complied.
The scammers immediately went to an ATM to withdraw cash using her Westpac card and then spent the money on gift cards.
"I was told by the police that they convert it into cryptocurrency and it can't be traced," she said.
They spent almost $29,000 and because De Candia already transferred the other $6,040 to the bank account, she lost nearly $35,000.
THE AFTERMATH
A suspect has since been arrested for the crime.
NAB managed to get $5,000 back, but she said she was stuck in limbo while waiting for Westpac and the case to go to court.
"It's years of savings …" she said. "To have this amount of money gone is catastrophic.
"My money is meant to be safe in a bank account and this is clearly not the case.
Both banks issued warnings about scammers, saying they will never ask a customer to transfer their money to keep it safe, or ask them to hand over a credit card or PIN.
An NAB spokesperson said it investigates each case and if a customer was a victim of a scam, it makes every possible effort to recover their stolen funds.
"Once the funds leave their accounts, it is extremely difficult to recover them due to the sophistication and speed with which criminals move stolen funds," an NAB spokesperson told Yahoo Finance.
"We know that in addition to the investments we make in our systems to help detect scams and fraud, education is important to help people avoid scammers."
De Candia hopes to raise more awareness and help others recognize the warning signs.
"I don't want anyone else to go through what I've gone through," she said. "It's an actual nightmare."
SCAMMING ON THE RISE
Many unsuspecting people have fallen victim to recent bank scams.
The U.S. Sun previously reported on a woman who had to sell her Victorian home in Montana when a phone call ended in huge financial loss.
In May 2022, Susan Bivins, 72, realized her credit card was used to make an Amazon purchase that wasn't hers.
She called the company and it told her to change her payment information because she had been a victim of fraud.
She instead closed the account altogether hoping the issue was solved.
On July 1, she received a call from another Amazon employee telling her the account had been flagged for activity after thousands of dollars of charges had accumulated.
Bivins confirmed the purchases were not hers and was transferred to a Fraud Detection Agency that purported itself to be with the Federal Trade Commission.
She spoke with an agent who told her she was being investigated for money laundering and to not tell her family or friends about the ordeal.
"I was told not to contact anyone – family, law enforcement, attorney," she said.
"I was part of an investigation, as it could be anyone who had contact with me who was stealing my identity."
She eventually deposited $212,000 into a US Treasury-secured locker at the request of the agent.
However, once the transfer occurred, she realized she only had $400 of her savings left.
She called the police and the FBI was brought in because of the severity of the crime.
They informed her that because the culprit was not in the US, they would be impossible to catch.
"Looking back on it now, it was so ridiculous, but I was terrified," Bivins said.
Anyone receiving phone calls threatening monetary demands is urged to call the police immediately.
More >> https://ift.tt/DRdvzFT Source: MAG NEWS
