bank account drained: Australian family's $250,000 house deposit vanishes in high-tech email fraud
Gold Coast Family Receives Major Lifeline After Bank Agrees to Reimburse Stolen Deposit
A Gold Coast family, Sarah and Laine Robinson, who lost their house deposit worth $250,000 due to a scam, have received a significant reprieve as ANZ has agreed to fully reimburse the stolen funds.
In an unfortunate turn of events, the couple inadvertently transferred their life savings to scammers masquerading as their conveyancer just days before settling on their dream rural home in Mount Nathan.
"We can't believe it," Sarah shared with A Current Affair. "We've had a phone call from ANZ, and they agreed to reimburse the money."
The Robinsons had spent fifteen years saving for their dream property and were prepared to move with their three children when the scam unfolded. The deception started when the conveyancing firm the couple was working with suddenly went silent as scammers began impersonating the firm.
Fraudulent emails, almost identical to legitimate correspondence, were sent with one subtle discrepancy: the sender's email lacked the simple '.au' at the end. Sarah was in communication with the scammers for over a week without realizing it.
Unexpectedly, ANZ will repay the family around $170,000 that was lost in the intricate scam. Initially, the bank was able to recover approximately $80,000, but the remaining $170,000 could not be traced.
The scam was exposed the day before settlement, when the genuine conveyancer contacted them. While the firm had received the first $60,000, the second, larger payment of $252,000 was missing.
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority had earlier cleared ANZ of any wrongdoing, a finding that the couple have criticized. However, ANZ has since decided to cover the full loss.
The family is now urging other scam victims not to lose hope. "If you've done the right thing, keep fighting. A positive outcome is possible, as we have proven," they implored.
Currently, the Robinson family is back on the market, hoping to finally find their new dream home.
To protect customers against business email compromise (BEC) and invoice scams, banks and their clients can employ a multi-layered approach combining awareness, technology, and procedural safeguards. Key strategies include customer and employee education, technical security measures, procedural controls, continuous monitoring, regular audits, and collaboration and communication between banks and their customers. By adopting these strategies, banks can provide a robust defense against BEC and invoice scams, ensuring the protection of their customers, especially those at risk of substantial losses like the Gold Coast family.
- The Robinsons, who were victims of a business email compromise (BEC) scam, lost their house deposit worth $250,000 and were initially unable to get reimbursement from ANZ.
- In the realm of general-news, the Robinson family, who were seeking a new home, were devastated when they uncovered a scam that led to the loss of their deposit.
- Banks, like ANZ, can implement a multi-layered approach that includes awareness, technology, and procedural safeguards to protect their customers, especially those in business and finance, from business email compromise (BEC) and invoice scams, as illustrated in the Robinson family's case.
