A callous con artist sought to steal a woman’s savings by posing as her bank and warned her of a fraudulent attempt.
The con artist, who introduced himself as Martin Moore and spoke with a British accent, called a New Zealand woman posing as a member of Westpac’s fraud protection team.
He informed her that an effort had been made to transfer funds from her bank account to a recipient in Mexico and requested her to validate her personal information.
The con artist used spoofing software to make it appear as though he was phoning from Westpac.
The woman did not fall for the con artist’s techniques and terminated the call prior to losing money.
Westpac released the recording of the conversation on Tuesday and said that the number of reported frauds increased by 33% in July compared to the previous year.
The fraudster is heard saying, “I’m calling about your credit card; if you want to verify the legitimacy of this call, the number I’m calling from today is printed on the back of your card.”
He verifies the credit card number of the woman before fabricating the money transfer story.
The con artist inquired whether the woman was attempting to send money to Mexico or whether she had lost her card.
For extra realism, he stated that the call was being recorded for “training purposes,” a standard disclaimer on nearly all corporate customer service calls.
A man posing as a Westpac fraud team employee attempted to defraud a woman in New Zealand before she caught on to his scheme (pictured is Westpac branch in Adelaide)
“Now just to confirm, have you traveled to Mexico and used your card in Mexico before?” he asked, to which the woman said that she had, although it had been decades.
He informed her in a courteous manner that Westpac would need to terminate her card and give her a new one.
“Today, we will also annul this transaction for you, is that acceptable, madam?” he asked.
The woman was then required to provide a cancellation code that had been provided to her phone.
He attempted to perform a security check to prove that she was the account holder so that he could “cancel” her card.
“Now that I’ve validated my identity for you today, I can certify that the number I’m calling from matches the number on your card,” he continued.
HOW TO DETECT A CON Artist
They phone, SMS, or email you unexpectedly claiming to be from a respected company.
Frequently, they have already fraudulently obtained personal information such as your name, the last four digits of your credit card number, or your approximate location, making them appear real.
Frequently, they will instruct you to perform an activity while on the phone with them, such as updating your banking information, increasing your daily payment limit, installing an app, or transferring funds to a ‘new’ account.
To convince you that the call is legitimate, they may use software to send you a fake SMS that looks to be from the company they claim to be calling from while they are on the phone with you.
Credit: Westpac
When asked why he wasn’t phoning from a New Zealand number, the con artist swiftly lied and said he was calling from Westpac’s international fraud squad because the transaction occurred in Mexico.
When he asked her to confirm her date of birth, she realized something was off and told him she was ‘uncomfortable’ continuing the conversation.
No problem, I entirely understand; if you could just call us back immediately, that would be great.
Westpac stated that there were various warning signs in the call that clients should be aware of, including the fact that the call was unexpected.
Additionally, the bank stated that it would never issue a code to cancel payments or require consumers to read a security code.
In addition, the con artist continuously attempted to confirm he was phoning from Westpac.
Since then, Westpac has collaborated with Optus to restrict calls from impersonators attempting to spoof the bank.
Nearly 95,000 Westpac phone numbers have been put to a “do not originate” list, preventing scammers from using them.
Ben Young, the head of fraud at Westpac, stated that fraudsters have posed as telco providers, government organizations, and even family members.
“We’ve witnessed a considerable increase in situations where scammers use software to camouflage their phone number with that of a reputable company,” he said.
From the customer’s perspective, they appear to be receiving a call from Westpac, but it’s actually a fraudster acting as a member of our fraud department calling from a different number.
‘The con artist would then utilize personal information fraudulently obtained, such as the customer’s name or the last few digits of their credit card number, to convince them that the call is legitimate.
“When in doubt, hang up and dial a publicly listed number to verify the call’s legitimacy.”
Westpac released the audio of the conversation on Tuesday and said that the number of reported frauds increased by 33% in July, compared to the previous year