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The brilliant scam that cost a couple $146,000 after they were duped by a ‘skilled professional’ scam, and how shrewd bank bosses got the money back
- Scammed couple shares their ordeal to warn others
- The bank managed to recover the money after flagging a suspicious transaction
- Officials have warned that this is not often the case for scammed victims.
An elderly retired couple was scammed out of their hard-earned savings before their bank saved the day.
Anita and Thomas Jacobsen of Toowoomba in Queensland’s Darling Downs were researching financial institutions to find the best deposit rate to invest their $146,000 savings.
They received a phone call from a man with a British accent claiming to be from a well-known Australian bank offering a rate of four per cent for six months.
After speaking with the man’s colleague a few days later and receiving the bank-headed paperwork, Mr. Jacobsen transferred his savings to the account provided.
A retired couple was too embarrassed to tell their family after being scammed out of their $146,000 savings (file image of a retired couple)
He was horrified to receive a call from the Bank of Queensland Financial Crimes Team two days later, informing him that he had been scammed.
The Jacobsens were so embarrassed that they put off telling their family for a week, but are telling their story in the hope that others won’t fall victim to a similar scam.
“I consider myself reasonably conscientious when transacting business and I’m sorry to anyone else who got caught up in this,” Jacobsen told the agency. Toowoomba Chronicle.
“Our working days are over, we’ve worked hard for this money, we pay taxes on it, it’s all self-funded, and we were told we had no chance of getting it back.”
But Bank of Queensland came to his aid and was able to recover the Jacobsen savings.
The bank was able to put the funds on hold when its financial crime team flagged the transaction as potentially suspicious and worked with the other bank involved to return the money to the very grateful and relieved couple.
However, bank officials cautioned that this happy ending is not often the case for scammed victims.
“In most cases, when money leaves your account, it can be very difficult to recover and it is very common for scammers to transfer funds abroad to cryptocurrency, making it virtually impossible to recover those funds,” he said. Ben Griffin, BOQ Customer Advocate.
He said the Jacobsens fell victim to a very professional and polished investment scam and hoped their story would make others pay more attention.
Bank of Queensland ombudsman Ben Griffin said the scammed couple were one of the rare lucky ones to get their money back.
The story prompted BOQ to issue a nationwide warning to clients about increased investment offers in imposter bonds from scammers who claim “to be selling 3.75-6.25 percent time deposits with an investor deadline of January 30, 2023”.
“According to reports, the impostor initiates and maintains contact with interested parties, sometimes for an extended period of time,” the bank warned.
“During this time, they can provide application instructions, expiration dates, investment thresholds, and other specific details about potential investment options.”
Signs to look out for include excessively high yields or bonds that seem unrealistic and constant pressure to invest due to ‘missing out’.
Other red flags are professional-looking forms or flyers with “look-alike” email addresses or phone numbers that aren’t genuine, unusual requests for personal information, and being asked to pay funds directly into a bank account.
Bank of Queensland has issued a warning to customers to be on the lookout for similar scams
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has advised you never transfer money to an account owned by people you don’t know, or give out your personal, credit card, or online account information over the phone, unless you got the number from a trusted source
‘Never reply to emails or phone calls from someone claiming to be your bank asking for account details’, the ACCC website states.
‘Genuine banks or financial institutions never do this. This is what scammers do to steal your identity and your money.’
If you receive an email claiming to be from the bank asking for your account details, immediately delete the email without clicking any links that may trigger malware designed to steal personal data, and report the email to your bank.
If you get a call, ask for their name and number and say you will call back later and immediately contact your bank using the official phone number.