Yahoo Finance Aussie bride loses $35,000 wedding fund in side hustle scam: 'What have I done?'
Ashlie was told that all she had to do was write fake reviews and the cash would come rolling in.
A bride-to-be has thrown her big day into question after losing her wedding funds in an elaborate social media scam. Ashlie Campbell wanted to get into a few side hustles before she said 'I do' to allow for the wedding to be as perfect as possible.
She saw an advert on Facebook that promised a $100,000 per year salary in exchange for writing fake reviews for hotels. The 27-year-old thought that would be an easy payday, so she reached out and asked how she could get involved.
Campbell was told that she had to put money into a cryptocurrency wallet and once her reviews had been lodged the cash would be returned.
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In the beginning, the scheme seemed legitimate. The disability support worker had spent around $300 and received a $50 commission for her work.
But that was all a ploy to convince her that the setup was real.
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As time went on, while she was writing the reviews, she was told there were "insufficient funds" in the crypto account and she had to "recharge" it by putting in more money.
"It got, you know, to 20 grand, 25 grand, and I'm, like, just going on forever. I just want my money back," she explained to 7News.
This went on until she had plunged $35,000 of her wedding fund into the scam.
But one day, she found that she was locked out of the crypto account and couldn't access her money.
She was told that she needed to invest $10,000 to get a pro-reviewing account and pay an additional $26,000 to withdraw all her money. It was at this moment that she realised she had been scammed.
"It's gone as simple as that," Campbell said. “I was thinking ‘what have I done?’"
She was quickly blocked by all the scammers she had been messaging and was told by her bank and the police that they couldn't help her.
It took a while before she could pluck up the courage to tell her husband-to-be about what had happened.
She said she was "ashamed" to confess but knew she had to speak out because the couple was meant to be planning their engagement party, buying a car, and sorting out their wedding plans.
Campbell has started a GoFundMe to reclaim some of her losses and get the word out about this type of scam.
"I really want to start raising more awareness around how people can be easily tricked into these scams and how many different kinds of scams there are!" she said.
"Please check in on your loved ones and friends and make sure they are not going to be the next victim!"
Aussies warned about investment scams
Investment scams are rife in Australia, with Scamwatch revealing Aussies lose more money to this type of scam than any other.
More than $1.3 billion was lost in investment scams in 2023.
Since July last year, ASIC has helped remove more than 5,530 fake investment platform scams, 1,065 phishing scam hyperlinks and 615 cryptocurrency investment scams.
"Australians are still losing billions of dollars each year to scams. Scammers are criminals targeting the hip pockets of hard-working Australians – they don’t discriminate, and they use sophisticated techniques to steal information and money," ASIC deputy chair Sarah Court said.
"The scams landscape is rapidly evolving. Innovative technology developments may improve how we live and work, however they also provide new opportunities for scammers to exploit.
"Every day an average of 20 investment scam websites are taken down. The quick removal of malicious websites is an important step to stop criminal scammers from causing further harm to Australians."
MoneySmart has warned Aussies to be suspicious of anyone offering you "easy money" online as scammers are skilled at convincing people that their scheme is legitimate.
"There's always a catch," they said.
It's also worth noting that writing fake reviews is illegal in Australia. The consumer watchdog said reviews should only ever be submitted if they are legitimate.
"You should not ask others, including family and third parties, to write reviews about your business without prominently disclosing their personal connection or commercial relationship with your business in that review," the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission states.
"If you offer incentives to customers to encourage them to provide reviews, these incentives must be equally applicable to both positive and negative reviews and be prominently disclosed."
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How do I protect myself from scammers?
Aussies lost $2.7 billion to scams last year, with 601,000 cons reported to authorities, according to a new report from the Australian Anti Scam Centre.
That's down from a record $3.1 billion the year previous, however, the number of scams reported went up by 18.5 per cent. Over 65s were the hardest hit and only group to take a higher loss in the last year.
Investment scams are the most prolific, with $1.3 billion lost, followed by remote access scams ($256m) and romance scams ($201.1m).
Scamwatch warns to beware of the following scenarios:
It’s an amazing opportunity to make or save money
Someone you haven’t met needs your help - and money
The message contains links or attachments
You feel pressured to act quickly
They ask you to pay in an unusual or specific way
They ask you to set up new accounts or Pay ID
What should I do if I think I’ve been scammed?
Contact your bank and report the scam. Ask them to stop transactions and stop sending any money.
Report the scam to Scamwatch here and make an official complaint to police here.
Watch out for follow up scams, particularly ones promising they can get your money back. Scamwatch warned one in three victims of a scam are scammed more than once.
Lastly, get support for yourself. You can talk to a financial counsellor or reach out to BeyondBlue on 1300 22 4636 or here for an online chat or Lifeline for crisis support online here on 13 11 14.
You can also contact IDCARE to “reduce the harm they experience from the compromise and misuse of their identity information by providing effective response and mitigation”.
