News

Whilst we highlight issues around scams especially during Scams Awareness Week, this is something everyone needs to remain vigelant about.

If you've identified or encountered a scam, tell someone - it could be your friends, family, colleagues, social networks, or community. When you share a scam story, you can prevent someone else from having their money or personal information stolen. By talking to each other, we can make sure no one is alone in the fight against scams.

This case study is a cautionery tale, epsecially with those of us with elderly parents, looking ot boost their retirement income.

Hannah's Story

Hannah had been trapped by a cryptocurrency scam and had already had over $300,000 stolen. After being scammed, she was struggling mentally, financially and physically. Hannah’s in her seventies and she was worried she would lose her independence if her family found out. She became more isolated from her children and desperate to get her money back. She was looking to borrow from her mortgage to pay for an investigator to recover her money.

Then she had a call from “David”. David had all the details of who Hannah had been dealing with when she was scammed. He explained he’d been conducting investigations into another matter and had identified Hannah’s funds along with other peoples’ funds who had been targeted by the same scammer. Hannah was flooded with relief.

Hannah was excited to find someone who knew where her money was, and who was confident that they could recover it. David called Hannah every second day, and they would have long conversations about many topics. Hannah looked forward to the calls from David as she was lonely and isolated. She was willing to pay the $25,000 fee David was charging.

Sharing her story

Hannah went to withdraw the money and the bank teller alerted her to the scam. The teller explained that David was probably the same person who had scammed her in the first instance or possibly a close contact of the scammer. Hannah was grateful and relieved to be able to finally share her experiences and financial stress with someone. Hannah was referred to further support services to help her recover from being scammed. She has still not been able to bring herself to tell her family.