Brisbane Scott and Danielle White had been working hard to build up their life savings – which only took seconds to disappear during Global Technology Blackout last week.
The scammer impersonating Bendigo Bank has already logged into Scott’s account. Internet Banking Services When he called on the phone on Saturday, he asked for one detail – before stealing $98,000.
Scott, 38, and Danielle, 34, planned to use the money for IVF to start a family, as well as to keep their beloved dog Nala’s tail in check during her final months as she battled aggressive cancer.
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Panic spread as soon as the call ended, but Scott said the community’s support helped them — financially and emotionally — as they tried to get their money back.
“I got a call that I thought was from Bendigo Bank because of the credentials they gave me,” Scott told 7NEWS.com.au.
The scammer told Scott that someone had tried to use his interstate credit card, and claimed in six words that his call would stop everything.
Scott’s password had already been changed before the call, so when the scammer asked Scott to log in with new details, the red flags didn’t go unnoticed.
“It seemed really weird, so I asked him to tell me what my last two transactions were, and he did,” Scott said.
“Then it asked me for my access ID, which you can only see when you are inside the account.
“I said to him, ‘I’m not going to give you this because you might be a fraud, why don’t you read it to me’ – and he did.”
Scott, still unsure, wondered why he hadn’t received a confirmation message from the bank.
“Then, a message arrived on my phone on the exact same string as all previous Bendigo Bank authentication messages.”
Scott said that when he saw that the text had come through to the right subject, he returned to the call.
“Then he said, ‘The problem is with two-factor authentication, and I just need you to read me this code once,'” Scott added.
“I read him the code, I shouldn’t have done that.”
Bendigo Bank said the financial loss was caused by Scott’s mistake, and that giving the code generated by an app on his phone to someone else was the cause.
Global outage impacts fraud management
“Once I started thinking clearly, I realised (it was a scam),” Scott told 7NEWS.com.au, adding that he then made countless failed attempts to reach Bendigo Bank.
“I was on the phone for a long time and no one answered on Saturday.
“I was informed on Monday after the scam was complete… that Bendigo Bank had no systems in place due to the (global CrowdStrike service) outage. So even if I could contact them on Saturday, they wouldn’t be able to stop it.”
Scott later learned that although his account had apparently been depleted on Saturday, the transfer of funds was not fully completed until Monday “once the systems were up and running.”
Scott also called his father and told him in a panic, “Everything I have has just been taken.”
Bendigo Bank told 7NEWS.com.au it “does not comment on specific matters”.
“Every case of fraud and financial crime is unique, and every loss resulting from fraud is treated with the same care and attention,” the company said.
“Sometimes good faith payments are made at the bank’s discretion and may take into account a variety of factors.”
Scott said a “reimbursement committee” is now meeting to determine whether the couple can recover any money from the bank itself, with a decision due next week.
Scott hopes that since the scammer had already hacked his account and changed his password before the code was generated, there should be some grounds for compensation.
“If I give you this access code from my phone, you can’t just take money from my account — you have to actually be in my account, which it was,” he said.
“The bank should never have allowed this guy to access my online banking account in the first place.”
Society is progressing
The scammer left about $1,500 in “drops and drops” in various accounts held by White’s team.
“Luckily, I had some cash in my wallet, not piles, but I was able to get gas and I had a jar full of leftover cash from when I was a waiter,” Scott said.
“But we got such a community connection, sister. He created a GoFundMe. … Dani’s sister – a single mother of two – filled 10 to 12 bags of groceries at Coles and brought them in … Her brother pulled out wads of $100 bills and brought them in.
“We had friends we met at (a neighbor’s) house come over once, at a birthday party, and give us $500. We even had people we didn’t even know come to our door. It was crazy.
“Our neighbors, who helped us through this ordeal, were going door to door.”
The couple’s workplaces also took the initiative to collect donations for them.
After hearing this news, City Fertility Clinic in Brisbane offered to help them achieve their dreams of becoming parents by covering any additional expenses.
“The support Dani received from other women who had IVF was overwhelming… It was something that money could never replace,” Scott said.
“We are almost out of emotions. We are trying to keep our bodies hydrated because our tear ducts are venting gas and dust.
“This world may be bad, but there are many wonderful people in it.”
