Posted By

Tags

Aucklander loses $14,000 to hackers

Consumer New Zealand

Wellington, May 28, 2016

An Auckland woman, tricked into paying thousands into the wrong bank account, does not know whether she will get her money back and wants to warn others about the elaborate ruse.

The woman, a Consumer member who does not want to be named, thought she was paying $14,000 into her builder’s bank account through internet banking.

However, the builder’s email had been hacked and an invoice sent with an altered account number. When the money did not show up in the builder’s account, it sounded alarm bells.

The woman contacted her bank, ANZ, but by then — just two days later — the money was gone. Nearly a month later, our member is still waiting to hear the results of police and ANZ investigations into the incident.

ANZ said it is aware this type of scam is targeting the building industry and had previously alerted bank staff after its fraud team had flagged the problem. But a security alert was only posted on the bank’s website in May.

Another Consumer member had a similar experience last year. Her builder’s email account was hacked, a false invoice sent and her payments diverted to the wrong account.

Her bank, Kiwibank, made a goodwill payment of $3300, half the amount she had lost.

If you think you have been a victim of this scam, report it to the police and your bank immediately. We think banks also need to be proactive in alerting customers to these scams.

*

Share this story

Related Stories

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Indian Newslink

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement

Previous slide
Next slide

Advertisement