Shock update after Aussie family lost 15 years of savings when their $250,000 house deposit was stolen in sophisticated email scam
Sarah and Laine Robinson unknowingly transferred their entire life savings to scammers posing as their conveyancer just days before settlement on their dream rural home in Mount Nathan.
'We honestly can't believe it,' Sarah told A Current Affair. 'We've had a phone call from ANZ, and they agreed to reimburse the money.'
The couple had spent 15 years saving for their dream property and were packed up and ready to move with their three children when the scam unfolded.
The nightmare began when, as settlement approached, the conveyancing firm the couple had been working with suddenly went silent.
Unknown to the Robinsons, scammers had intercepted the email chain and began impersonating the firm.
The fraudulent emails looked nearly identical to legitimate correspondence, but had one subtle red flag, the sender's email was missing a simple '.au' at the end.
'I was talking to the scammers for a week-and-a-half without knowing,' Sarah said.
Trusting the instructions, the Robinsons visited an ANZ branch to make the payment. There, the teller failed to notice that the account name didn't match the details.
'They can see that they were at fault on that day,' Sarah said. 'Their staff member failed to do appropriate checks and failed to protect us.'
The scam was only uncovered the day before settlement, when the real conveyancer contacted them. While the firm had received the first $60,000, the second and much larger payment of $252,000 was missing.
ANZ was initially able to recover around $80,000, but the remaining $170,000 was gone. The bank has now stepped in and reimbursed the full amount.
The heartwarming update comes after Australian Financial Complaints Authority had previously cleared the ANZ of wrongdoing, a finding the couple have criticised.
Despite this, ANZ made the decision to cover the full loss.
The couple are now urging other scam victims not to give up hope.
'If you can see you can see you've done the right thing, keep fighting. You can have a positive outcome, we are living proof that can happen,' they said.
The family is now back on the market, hoping to finally find a new dream home.
ANZ said it would take action to help protect its customers against scams and fraud, including business email compromise and invoice scams like this one.
'We invest in ongoing education, detection systems, and recovery efforts to support our customers. The extent and pace of change in the scams landscape has evolved significantly, as perpetrators become increasingly sophisticated,' a statement said.
'We will continue to adapt our protective measures and encourage customers to stay alert, stay informed, and act swiftly on anything suspicious.'
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