Young woman loses $35,000 to scammers telling her her NAB and Westpac bank cards had been compromised
A young woman lost nearly $35,000 after falling victim to an elaborate scam that started as a seemingly innocent alert telling her she had been charged twice for her Netflix account.
Rachel De Candia, 28, received an email in October that she thought was legitimate, saying she had been charged twice for the streaming service.
She replied with her bank details as requested, assuming she would receive a refund.
A week later, she received a call from an anonymous person claiming to be a member of NAB's fraud and security team, informing her that her bank cards and accounts had been compromised.
Rachel De Candia, 28, was scammed out of nearly $35,000 by people pretending to be from her bank
'They said my entire account had been hacked and I had to transfer my money. They also said that my cards had been copied at some point, so I had to send them for forensic examination,” Ms De Candia said. Yahoo News.
The 28-year-old transferred $6,040 via PayID to an account she believed was set up by the bank.
Later that day, an Uber arrived at Ms De Candia's home demanding she hand over her 'compromised' NAB and Westpac payment cards.
Although the woman admitted the situation was “weird,” she said she was so panicked that she handed over her cards hoping it would be the end of her nightmare.
But it was just the start of the ordeal as the scammers shopped with her cards, visiting ATMs to withdraw cash before giving money to Officeworks, Kmart and Coles.
They spent almost $29,000 and because Ms De Candia had already transferred the $6,000, she lost a total of almost $35,000, which she had saved for a home deposit.
Before she was scammed, she had applied for a mortgage.
Those plans have been put on hold as she desperately tries to get her savings back.
“A lot of the things they bought were Apple gift cards, Apple iPhones and cash from the ATMs. I was told by the police that they are converting this into cryptocurrency and it cannot be traced,” she said.
She only realized her mistake when she spoke to her partner later that evening, before immediately reporting the matter to her banks and police.
Ms De Candia, 28, received an email in October that she thought was legitimate, saying she had been charged twice for her Netflix account
The police have arrested a scammer who was allegedly involved.
NAB managed to rescue $5,000 that was supposed to be returned to Ms De Candia, but due to ongoing litigation, the remainder has not yet been recovered.
'It's my savings. It's not like I can earn that money back in a certain amount of time. It is catastrophic that this amount is gone,” she said.
Both banks warned Australians about scammers.
Westpac said it would never ask customers to transfer money to other accounts to keep it safe, or ask them to hand over their cards or PINs.
NAB said it would never ask customers to confirm, update or disclose personal or banking details via a link in an email or text message.
Those who receive suspicious calls or text messages are urged to delete them or hang up immediately.
Banks have warned Australians to be aware of scammers