Yahoo Finance NAB banker stops homebuyer transferring $6m to scam after spotting ‘red flag’
The customer advisor noticed one tiny detail that stopped the woman losing her life savings.
A NAB bank teller has given a customer six million reasons to count her blessings.
The NSW woman in her 50s walked into a bank branch in Erina on the Central Coast to transfer $6 million to a conveyancer after receiving an invoice to secure a property. The only problem was, the invoice didn’t actually come from the conveyancer.
The conveyancer’s email address had likely been hacked by scammers, who then tried to encourage the woman to hand over the hefty sum of money by using a very convincing invoice.
Have you been a victim of a scam? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
NAB customer advisor Nikki Alvaro was chatting to the customer about sending over the $6 million and wanted to make sure everything was in order before making the transfer.
“They had this email, they had the purchase price, they had all the information about the purchase, and the email came from the solicitor’s email address,” Alvaro said.
While it looked legitimate, the NAB worker noticed a red flag.
“The company name on the invoice looked completely different from the normal property exchange company (PEXA) and the money was going to one bank, when I know PEXA is normally a different bank,” she said.
“As soon as I saw the company name, I thought there’s something not right here. That flagged straight away so we asked some more questions, and we asked the customer to confirm the BSB and account number with the conveyancer.”
It was only when the customer called the conveyancer that the scam was uncovered.
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They told the woman that they hadn’t sent an invoice yet because they didn’t even have the purchase price for the property. Alvaro said “everyone’s stomach just dropped” when the revelation was made.
The customer was beyond thankful that she hadn’t made a $6 million mistake. She sent flowers and a card to the NAB worker to express her gratitude.
“Thank you for going over and beyond and above in your service for National Australia Bank,” she wrote. “Your service means the world to me, and you should be employee of the year. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it, you have saved my life savings.”
Invoice scams are a $16 million problem
This is another example of an invoice scam, also known as a payment redirection scam, that hackers are using to target unsuspecting Aussies. The NAB customer advisor said the email the customer received had a lot of information about the property, meaning the scammers had clearly done their homework.
Scammers will often pose as a real business you’ve recently dealt with, particularly those dealing with large transfers of money such as real estate agents, lawyers or construction companies. However, Scamwatch has also received reports of car dealerships, travel companies and their customers being targeted.
Aussies lost a whopping $16.2 million to payment redirection scams last year, according to Scamwatch. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) deputy chair Catriona Lowe said scammers were “becoming more targeted” in their approach.
“These criminals are posing as genuine businesses that a consumer has recently dealt with, sending fake invoices with altered payment details so that the money ends up with the scammer,” Lowe said.
“This scam is hard to detect because the scammer will either hack into the email system of the business or impersonate the business’ email address by changing as little as one letter.”
The best way to protect yourself against these types of scams is to call a business directly to double check the payment details on the invoice are correct.
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How do I protect myself from scammers?
Aussies lost a record $3.1 billion to scammers last year, an 80 per cent increase on the previous year.
Scamwatch warn 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”.
