Scam victim reveals devastating moment entire life savings disappear in 10-minute phone call with scammer

A fraud victim has shed light on a devastating new way scammers are targeting vulnerable Australians after losing her entire life savings during a 10-minute phone call with someone claiming to be from their bank.

The victim, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had been banking at HSBC for more than 20 years and received a message that matched actual messages he had previously received from the bank.

The victim was sent a number to call after receiving a message notifying him of a new mobile login from Perth.

The victim said he called because he was afraid someone was trying to break into his account, adding, “I believed the message was real and thought I was doing the right thing to protect my money.”

After calling the number, the victim spoke to a man on the phone for approximately 10 minutes, and the man asked the victim if anyone else had access to his banking transactions.

What the victim did not realize was that they had never spoken to HSBC on the phone; Instead, they were calling a scammer who assumed an elaborate identity to fool them.

“During the call I received another message saying $46,700 had been deducted from my account,” the victim said.

“That was basically all I had in savings. It was money I was saving to cover expenses related to a personal situation.”

“I was shaking when I realized what had happened.

“I was in shock. I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do first.”

The victim called the bank and reported everything, even filing a police report.

They described what happened while waiting for an update as “torture.”

“I kept calling for updates but was told to wait, told to go to the branch, told my information didn’t match, and told the investigation was still ongoing,” the victim said.

“Months went by and I still had no real answers as to where my money was going or if I would get any of it back.”

The victim said the impact on his family was “huge” and led to him borrowing $20,000 from a friend and his sister.

“I even had to ask my daughter for a share of her savings. She was only 18 at the time and had been saving money from birthdays and chores, but after the scam, she had to help me with food and other expenses,” the victim explained.

“I took an extra Saturday shift at work and my daughter, who is studying, had to take an extra shift because we needed money to get by.

“It was emotionally devastating. I couldn’t sleep or eat properly.

The heartbreaking story has been revealed with new data showing just how far scammers can evade ordinary Australians.

Between January and May of this year, the National Anti-Fraud Center (NASC) received 4,278 Scamwatch reports of bank impersonation fraud, with losses of $2,481,562.

This occurred mainly through phone calls; these searches topped the list with 1,553 reports and a whopping total loss of $1.9 million.

This was followed by email ($211,739), text message ($175,496), personal fraud ($120,000), online fraud ($23,605) and mail ($7,250).

This trend has led to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issuing a major warning about the increasing sophistication of scams and the dubious claims they use.

“Scammers can use technology to change the way their number appears when they call or text you, allowing them to clone a real bank phone number,” the watchdog said.

“This is called spoofing. Scammers use spoofing to trick victims into assuming the call or message is legitimate, even though it is not.

“Then they rely on creating pressure, confusion or fear so you act quickly without checking.”

ASIC said it was also concerned by reports that fraudsters were using ways to leverage AI tools such as generative AI chatbots, automated AI call summaries and AI agents to increase the volume and sophistication of bank impersonation scams.

“We are seeing fraudsters impersonating banks to manipulate Australians into handing over their money or personal information,” ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland said.

“Bank impersonation scams can be financially and emotionally devastating for victims who see their life savings disappear.”