Aussie small business owner has bank account cleaned out after 'really scary' call - Yahoo Finance Australia
A small business owner in Victoria, Australia, lost five figures to scammers who used AI tools to gather personal data in a sophisticated bank impersonation scheme.
The scam began with a call from an unknown number on Melbourne Cup public holiday. The caller claimed to be from Bendigo Bank's customer protection team, using official rhetoric to gain Emmett's trust. As pressure mounted to provide access codes and transfer balances, Emmett recognized it as 'a classic phishing scam' that resulted in a five-figure loss.
Growing scam epidemic
These incidents are becoming increasingly common in Australia. Last year, $97.6 million was lost to phishing scams, including bank impersonation, up from $84.5 million in 2024. In the first half of this year alone, Scamwatch received 5,262 reports of bank impersonation scams, totaling $3,249,618 in losses.
Sophisticated tactics
The scam followed a familiar pattern: a professional-sounding caller claimed to detect fraudulent transactions in Western Australia and Indonesia, which Emmett hadn't made. The scammer was 'very polite and very calm' but created urgency, asking for a verification code while instructing Emmett not to read it aloud.
The really scary thing was how much personal data they had gathered from so many different places
Red flags missed
In retrospect, Emmett noted that the verification text was for a $0.00 transaction in United Arab Emirates Dirham, which should have been a red flag. He has since shared his experience on social media to warn others about similar scams.
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