Yahoo Finance Warning about ‘unsuspecting friends’ sharing hoax app
The Commonwealth Bank has issued warning against a hoax app customers claim has already cost them thousands of dollars.
“We are aware of a hoax app called “Hope Business” claiming that anyone can earn significant returns after transferring funds to use as an investment while completing in app tasks,” the major bank said in a statement on Facebook.
“This has been removed from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store however, is presently being shared through the community by unsuspecting friends and family sharing links via messaging apps.”
It told customers who had downloaded the app to immediately delete it and to be on the lookout for similar apps.
“The security of our customers’ banking details remains a top priority for the Commonwealth Bank and we invest in state of the art fraud prevention and detection technology to detect unusual activity,” a CommBank spokesperson said.
“We also work closely with law enforcement agencies and other banks to share information and mitigate threats to the Australian community.”
The bank said it is “very concerned” when it is made aware of scams affecting customers.
“Despite the commitment and best efforts of regulators, law enforcement agencies and the banking industry, such scams sadly still occur and customers are tricked into sending money to scammers,” the spokesperson added.
“Scams are an industry-wide issue and we undertake our absolute best endeavours to attempt to recover any money that has been sent to these scammers as soon as we are made aware of the payment. Customers should notify us immediately on 13 2221 if they think they have been scammed.”
Customers shared their stories with the app on the CommBank Facebook page, claiming they have already lost thousands of dollars.
“I also invested some money, badly effected [sic],” one customer said.
“I know people who have lost $75k to this app,” another added.
Australians have already lost $78 million to scams in 2021 with Scamwatch receiving 81,137 reports. Investment scams are by far the most costly ($38 million).
According to Avast research, Australians can also lose as much as $3,432 over one year by downloading dangerous apps.
It has found 200 new fleeceware applications on the Google and Apple stores, with more than one billion downloads.
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