EXCLUSIVEAn Aussie woman lost almost $45,000 to scammers and the bank refused to get it all back for her... then they sent an email that was the final slap in the face
A woman who was left suicidal after she lost $44,000 to scammers in 25 minutes claims her bank offered her counselling sessions instead of trying to fully recover her money.
A woman who was left suicidal after she lost $44,000 to scammers in 25 minutes claims her bank offered her counselling sessions instead of trying to fully recover her money.
Gay de Beer, 73, from Seaford in Melbourne, contemplated taking her own life after scammers tricked her out of her life savings from her Bendigo Bank account in May.
The bank recovered $7,200 and offered her an additional $2,000 in June, leaving Ms de Beer outraged and prompting her to take the matter public in November.
Ms de Beer told Daily Mail Australia the bank reached out to her afterwards and made a despicable offer instead of trying to get back the rest of the money.
‘Bendigo Bank sent a letter offering me six free counselling sessions. Isn’t that despicable? she said.
‘I can’t even respond to something like that. It’s absurd.’
Ms de Beer shared a copy of the email saying the bank acknowledges the recent article and that it was sorry to hear about the impact the scam had on her health.
I understand that being a victim of fraud has emotional impacts as well as financial, it read.
Gay de Beer, 73, (pictured) was scammed out of her life savings after someone remotely accessed her bank account. She is now fighting to get her money back
Bendigo Bank offered the pensioner counselling services after she was scammed instead of reimbursing her money (pictured)
The bank then offered counselling sessions with an external support agency that is dedicated to providing specialised support and guidance.
This final insult came after Ms de Beer rejected the banks offer of a token $2,000 in compensation, after they had only managed to recover $7,200 of her savings.
The pensioner is angry and confused the bank cant reimburse her because the scammers used Bendigo Bank accounts to transfer her money into.
Despite Ms de Beer having the account names and numbers, she claims the bank wont give her any information or updates - including if the scammers accounts have been shut down.
It was transferred into two Bendigo Bank accounts, she said.
‘And they won’t go into details because of privacy. So there’s no transparency there.’
The tech-savvy pensioner, who does bookkeeping and Uber driving to supplement her $540-a-week pension, never thought she would be scammed.
‘I believed I was immune to all this, she said.
Ms de Beers bank was given the account names and numbers the scammers used to transfer her money into and concluded the transactions were performed by the pensioner (pictured)
‘My screen went black. My computer is my work and it went totally black.
Then it said to call Microsoft and supplied the number.
Ms de Beer said all she could think about in the moment was losing her work and knew she needed to get the computer fixed.
The person I spoke to said there’s a direct deposit on my PayPal for $9,000, she said.
I gave them access to my computer via a program.
‘I even asked them "Is this a scam?"
They said: "No we’re helping you, it’s not a scam. We do this all the time."
Yeah, you do it all the time, you scam people, you bloody b*****ds.
Ms de Beer said she was watching them on her computer, but soon saw them transferring money out of her account.
‘I went to the branch, which is five minutes down the road, and I said, "I think I’m being scammed", she said.
I was devastated.
But after complaining to the bank, she received a letter dated May 15.
We have investigated the transactions on your behalf and have concluded that the transactions were performed by you, the letter read.
The pensioner couldnt believe the heartless response, especially since she was in the bank as the transfers were happening.
‘Sorry, f**k that. I did not personally transfer that money, she said.
Bendigo has basically put the full blame on me, she said. They said I gave them my biometrics. I’m not saying I’m not at fault.
But at the end of the day, it was transferred into two Bendigo bank accounts. The banks are supposed to be there to help you. They don’t help you.’
Ms de Beers advice for anyone like her who thinks they are above being scammed is to not trust anything.
Just don’t answer anything. If somebody says they’re here to help you, dont trust them, she said.
They’re so bloody clever. They just get you in - hook, line and sinker.
A Bendigo Bank spokesman said the bank took cyber security very seriously.
By working together with our customers, we can even further reduce the incidence of scams and fraud, he said.
It is important customers take steps to protect themselves and do not share their passwords or allow someone they dont know or trust to log in to their computer remotely, as it is extremely difficult to recover money that has been transferred to scammers.
Bendigo Bank attempts to recover funds lost to scams wherever possible and it goes without saying when the bank is at fault, we will reimburse customers for the loss of funds.
If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline Australia 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36.
