Australian pair suffers $50,000 loss following receipt of a solitary email - prompting a pressing alert about a perilous fresh scam
In a tragic turn of events, a Melbourne couple, Kathy Winton and Mark Richter, lost $50,000 to a payment redirection scam while overseas. The scammers intercepted an email from their builder and tricked them into sending the money to a fake account [6].
The couple's ordeal began when the first instalment was sent without noticing the date on the form was wrong. The scammers seized the opportunity and sent a fake email claiming the bank account details had changed, which the couple mistakenly believed [1]. Eleven days later, another email claiming a second payment was due followed, but unfortunately, the money was already gone [2].
The pair spent hours on the phone to ANZ from overseas trying to report the fraud, only to be disconnected multiple times and transferred between departments [7]. Upon returning to Australia, they discovered the bank had quietly closed the investigation [8]. ANZ offered them $750 'out of goodwill', which they found insulting [5].
ANZ told Daily Mail Australia it could not comment on the couple's case while it was before the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) [3]. The AFCA sided with ANZ in a preliminary determination but accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from the bank to fix weaknesses in its risk management and culture [9].
The offline form process used by ANZ was a significant contributing factor to the scam. The process lacked a mechanism to lock in a BSB and account number, exposing customers to fraud, according to Ms Winton [10].
Payment redirection scams are a growing concern in Australia, with Australians losing $152.6 million to such scams last year, up from $91.6 million in 2023 [4]. These scams are the third most costly scam type after investment and romance fraud [1].
To prevent such scams, banks can implement several safeguards. These include Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), verifying change requests through secondary channels, avoiding relying on emails alone for payment instructions, automated verification against legitimate databases, real-time fraud warning alerts, employee training and awareness, secure account settings, and monitoring for anomalies [1][2][3].
By combining technological tools with procedural controls and secure account hygiene, banks can form a robust defense against payment redirection scams in online banking transactions [1]. It is crucial for banks to prioritise their customers' security and implement these safeguards to protect them from falling victim to such scams.
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