After getting a text message claiming to be a voicemail from her doctor, an elderly stroke survivor was conned out of $7,000.
Gayle Arnott, 65, was hospitalized in 2020 due to a brain bleed and stroke; she passed away and required three attempts at resuscitation before spending three months in the hospital during the pandemic.
The Peterborough, South Australia, lady went in for a routine blood test and checkup in April of this year. A few days later, she received a text message claiming to have a voicemail from her expert in a link.
Gayle received a ton of calls after following the link in the message over the next few days before realizing $7k was gone from her account.
James, her husband, told Nine that his wife “felt she had better listen to the message, since it might be something severe.”
Her health scare “came as a bit of a shock.” While she was in the hospital, she passed away three times on me. We therefore handle medical issues as urgent whenever they arise.
After clicking the link that claimed to have the voicemail, nothing happened right away, but the next day Gayle and James started getting a lot of irate calls.
They were odd phone calls from people who said, “Oh, you rang me? What were you after? said James.
Then, she started receiving messages filled with all different kinds of superlatives. We realized it had to have been from tapping on that link at that point.
After receiving the barrage of calls, the couple, who had just recently taken out a $18,000 home improvement loan, were shocked to discover that the remaining balance had dropped to $11,000.
James said, “We immediately notified the bank, and they blocked the account.”
Her Commonwealth Bank account had been used for two separate withdrawals, but shockingly, the behemoth refused to give the elderly woman her money back.
As long as customers take the necessary precautions to avoid scams, the bank claims it guarantees a “100% security guarantee from unauthorised transactions on personal and business accounts.”
Customers are not eligible for a refund if it is discovered that they helped the scam, such as by clicking on phony links posted by con artists.
The distraught couple pleaded with Comm Bank to change its mind, and the bank responded by issuing a 25% “gesture of goodwill” return, leaving them with only $1,750 of the lost $7,000 in total.
The Commonwealth Bank has a formal promise to return your money if you are hacked, but James said that they are breaking that promise.
The bank is attempting to claim that by tapping the link, we gave the scammer permission to access our account. Their weakness is that. However, we declined since we believed it to be a doctor’s voicemail.
Customers should “be watchful,” according to Comm Bank, which added that they examine each situation on an individual basis.
A spokeswoman stated, “We are always very concerned when we are made aware of frauds and scams affecting clients and the larger society.”
Such frauds and schemes regrettably continue to happen despite the dedication and best efforts of regulators, law enforcement organizations, and the financial industry.
“We assess frauds, scams, and complaints on a case-by-case basis, although it is generally acknowledged that scammers are getting more sophisticated,” the statement reads.
Customers must be cautious, safeguard their financial information, and exercise caution while sending money to others.