By Makayla Muscat For Daily Mail Australia
01:02 07 Apr 2024, updated 01:04 07 Apr 2024
A bank teller stopped a woman from transferring $6million to a scammer who was pretending to be a conveyancer she was buying a house from.
The woman, in her 50s, walked into an NAB branch in Erina, on the NSW Central Coast, on Monday wanting to transfer her entire life savings to secure a property.
She showed an invoice that had been sent via email to customer advisor Nikki Alvaro, who immediately noticed multiple red flags, including the company name.
‘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,’ Ms Alvaro told 7News.
The bank teller asked the customer to call the conveyancer and confirm the BSB and account numbers.
The woman was reluctant to follow the instruction at first but quickly relented – and the response she received horrified everyone.
‘The conveyancer told the customer, “I haven’t even sent you an email because I haven’t even got a price yet” and he confirmed he didn’t bank with the bank the money was going to,’ Ms Alvaro said.
It is understood the scammer had compromised a real conveyancer’s business email, obtained all the relevant information, and altered the payment details so the money would go straight into their own account.
According to Ms Alvaro, everything looked legitimate but she had a feeling that something didn’t look right.
Aussies lost $16.2million to payment redirection scams last year.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the industries most commonly targeted by these scams are traditionally those that regularly deal with large transfers of money, such as the real estate and legal sectors.
‘Scammers are sophisticated criminals and are becoming more targeted in how they exploit Australian consumers and businesses,’ ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said in a statement.
‘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.
‘If you receive an invoice via email, take the time to call the business on a number you have found yourself to confirm that the payment details are correct.’
The customer later sent Ms Alvaro a bouquet of flowers and a note thanking her.
