Simon Elvins and his wife were thrilled to buy their first home in New South Wales after years of saving. Unfortunately, the couple lost around Rs 2 Crore – as a result of a payment redirection scam – which is when their dreams of buying a new house turned into a nightmare.
The following incident occurred when Simon received a bill from his conveyancer for the initial housing deposit. He followed the instructions in an email and made two transfers totaling $274,311. Sadly, the scammers were able to intercept the email, change the account information on the invoice, and steal their money.
In this payment redirection scam, fraudsters send emails pretending to be businesses in order to trick recipients into sending money to an account under their control. Small firms lost $13.7 million to scams in 2022, a 95% increase from the previous year, indicating that the scam is on the rise.
After being transferred from Simon’s Westpac account to a NAB account, his money vanished in a matter of hours. The couple was only able to reclaim a small portion of the money they had stolen, despite their best efforts.
Simon and his wife overcame legal obstacles and were able to keep their home by giving a 10% deposit to the real estate agent. They had a bigger mortgage than they had planned, though.
As the verification frequently rests with the customers themselves, they emphasise the necessity for banks to assume greater responsibility in shielding customers from such scams. Scams involving money redirection emphasise how crucial it is to be on guard and double-check any payment instructions you get via email.