Wollongong beautician Thuy Le claims scammer drained her CBA account of $40,000
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How a mysterious $60 deposit in an esthetician’s bank account got her scammed out of $40,000
- Thuy tells Le that $40,000 was taken from her account
- She says the account emptied after she made a $60 refund.
- CBA has refused to refund the money saying it is not their fault
A financially troubled mother of two claims a scammer used a $60 deposit to drain her account of the last $40,000, but the bank involved insists there is no case for a refund.
Thuy Le, who works at Sparkle Nails and Beauty salon in the NSW coastal city of Wollongong, says her ordeal began on November 24 last year when a caller claimed she had been paid $60 in his wife’s name by mistake and wanted it back. .
Ms. told him that she checked her Commonwealth Bank account and saw the deposit, which she transferred to an account provided by the caller.
The next day, he checked his account and says that $41,600, the sum of his life savings, had been withdrawn in five lump sums to the mystery account even though he did not provide the caller with any personal information, numbers or passwords.
After reporting this to the CBA, the bank has not offered any refund of money more than $2000 to settle the dispute because it claims that the security breach must be Ms Le’s fault.
Wollongong beautician and mother of two Thuy Le (pictured back right with her family) says a scammer stole her life savings of $40,000
Ms Le is the sole breadwinner for her family, as her husband is unable to work due to Parkinson’s disease and the couple have two children, ages six and 11.
“I have financial difficulties,” Le told Channel Seven.
I can’t sleep. I want to know why this happened to me and how it happened to me.
‘I am not a liar, nor a criminal, nor a fraud.
‘My husband is not working. We need the money for the medicine.
The CBA says the alleged fraudulent transactions were successful on the first attempt, proving that security details were used that are “nearly impossible for an unauthorized third party to guess.”
“The only reasonable explanation for these logins would be that the unauthorized third party knew your online banking credentials, which would violate the passcode security requirements,” the bank told Ms Le.
The bank has also argued that Ms Le did not inform them of “unauthorized” transactions quickly enough after they logged in from a Commonwealth Bank app.
“Had I reported the transactions immediately upon login… the chances of successfully recovering some of the funds would have been much higher,” the CBA said.
Ms. Le told that the desperation of her family situation has forced her to apply for help from the government.
He also filed a report with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority in an attempt to get his money back.
A statement from Ms. Le showing what she says were unauthorized withdrawals
The Commonwealth Bank has so far rejected Ms Le’s pleas to recover the withdrawn money.
Ms Le’s story bears disturbing similarities to the case of Melbourne mother Donna Brain, who saw hackers drain her CBA account of $200,000 in life savings after a mysterious deposit of $200,000 was made. $210 last August.
Ms. Brain, who works as a nurse, received a phone call from someone posing as a bank employee after the $210 deposit, which came from a name she did not recognize.
The caller, Ms. Brain, asked him to return the $210 that it was claimed had been sent to him by accident.
The caller did not ask Ms. Brain for any personal information, but after the transaction a series of quick withdrawals were made without her knowledge until there was almost nothing left.
However, Mr. Brain was able to convince the CBA that he had been scammed and they refunded his money.
Australian banks have issued numerous warnings to their customers about scammers.
They say the warning signs can include unsolicited phone calls from people claiming to work for banks, unexpected emails about strange transactions, and even fake websites posing as bank portals.