Local woman loses $10k in remote access scam

Here at Summerland Credit Union, we’re committed to empowering our customers with the latest information on fraud prevention.

Recently, there was a remote access fraud within the Northern Rivers. A local woman, who we’ll call Audrey, received a phone call from a fraudster claiming to be from Amazon, informing her that her subscription was due.

Audrey advised the ‘Amazon worker’ that she didn’t have a subscription with Amazon, and as a result was transferred to another person to process a refund.

The criminal sent Audrey a refund application online, which she completed, giving the scammer access to her computer in the process.

On completion of the application, the ‘Amazon worker’ informed Audrey that she’d filled out the application incorrectly, and that they’d refunded $10,000 into her account in error. In reality, the scammer had accessed Audrey’s internet banking, and had transferred funds from one of her accounts to another – making it look like a deposit had gone into the account.

The fraudster later told Audrey that Amazon urgently needed to retrieve the funds by close of business that day and directed Audrey to withdraw cash at her bank. The scammer advised Audrey to not disclose the reason for the withdrawal, but to say that she needed the funds for medical bills.

Once Audrey had withdrawn the cash, the fraudster told her to go to another ATM and deposit the cash there. During the transfer, the scammer was in contact with Audrey over the phone, guiding her with the BSB and account numbers required to complete the payment.

To make matters worse, the scammer called Audrey that evening, posing as an investigator from Amazon. When Audrey reported to the ‘investigator’ that she had withdrawn her own money and transferred it, he said he’d look into it as a matter of urgency.

Audrey finally got suspicious when the ‘investigator’ called the next morning asking her to withdraw another $15,000 in cash to assist with the investigation further.

Only when Audrey visited her bank’s branch, did she disclose what had happened. Unfortunately for this customer, none of the funds could be recovered.

The ways that fraudsters scam customers out of their money is always changing. Summerland recommends you sign up to Stay Smart Online’s free Alert Service, to keep up-to-date with online threats and how they can be managed.