Westpac text message scam: Couple who lost $98,000 upset at bank’s ‘offensive’ offer
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A heartbroken couple loses their $98,000 life savings to a sophisticated text message scam, but the bank adds insult to injury with an ‘offensive’ compensation offer
- A Victorian couple lost $98,000 in a scam
- James and Sarah received fake text messages from Westpac
- The messages asked them to transfer their savings
- Westpac offered them compensation of $3,000
A couple criticized Westpac’s ‘offensive’ offer to compensate them $3,000 after they lost nearly $100,000 in a sophisticated scam.
James and Sarah from Victoria said they were scammed after receiving a fake payment text from Uber that allowed scammers to access their legitimate message chain with Westpac.
The scammers then used the chat to send messages that appeared to come from Westpac and warned the couple that they had been scammed and to transfer their life savings to another ‘safer’ account.
Victorian couple James and Sarah lost $98,000 after messages posing as Westpac told them to transfer their savings to another account (pictured, message from scammer)
James and Sarah sent a total of $98,000 to the new account in a sequence of payments and received regular transfer notices.
The messages, which also appeared on Westpac’s legitimate chat, appeared to confirm that his money was deposited into a new account in his name.
But the couple quickly realized they couldn’t access the money and filed a scam complaint with Westpac.
In a four-page letter, Westpac claimed the bank was not at fault and played no role in the scam, but James and Sarah believe they could be doing more.
Westpac offered the couple (above) $3,000 compensation for the scam, which they said was “offensive” considering the amount they lost
“I’d just like to see some sort of acknowledgment that they’re going to work on that, for sure it’s going to be an issue down the road,” James said. nine news.
‘We bought our first house and lost close to $100,000. That money was there to pay our mortgage and it makes a big difference to lose that.’
Westpac has offered the couple compensation of $3,000 to help resolve their scam complaint.
“It’s offensive, $3,000 isn’t going to change anything,” Sarah said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Westpac for comment.