Bank customer scammed out of 40k
A BNZ bank customer was scammed out of $40,000. His experience is a timely reminder to all not to share passwords.
The man who had received a sum of money from the sale of a house received what he thought was an email from his bank and gave away his log in details.
$40,000 went missing from his account as a result but it wasn’t all in one lump sum. Instead it was $5,000 here, $2,000 there to different names and email accounts.
$15,000 of the money did bounce back but about $18,000 of the money is still missing.
The bank customer complained that the bank did not contact him in more than a month.
The BNZ said that because the customer gave away the code to the scammers which gave him access to his bank account they were unable to return most of the missing money to his account.
The bank also said, “They would never ask their customers to click on link in an email or ask for their password.”
Sending a hyperlink was something scammers tend to do.
There are steps which people can take to protect themselves against cyber crooks: Making use of strong passwords, not sharing passwords with anyone and setting up a two-factor authentication system.
As for this particular customer. It was too late for him and he is still trying to get the bank to take responsibility for his loss.
MY PERSONAL ADVICE
Don’t leave all of your money in just one account but invest some in an account which cannot be assessed online.
www.robertastewart.com
