Australian university student Sarah Towers says she was scammed out of almost $3000 by a person with remote access to their mobile phone.
She called Commonwealth Bank and waited on hold while his account was drained – now they say her, the transaction was “authorized”.
Watch the video to learn more about how this Australian student thinks she may have been hacked
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The Australian university student on minimum wage was studying for a maths test when she noticed her savings and the money she had set aside for bills were draining from her account.
The string of suspicious transactions from London ranged from $200 to $900 on May 10.
She thinks the scammer was able to access her text messages and NetBank code remotely.
“They managed to disable my NetBank notifications, which allowed them to get a NetCode without me knowing,” Towers said on TikTok.
Once inside the CommBank app, which allows users to register up to five devices at a time, the scammer was able to add his phone so he could perform “authorized transactions”.
Only one user can use the app at a time despite this feature, so once alerted to the scam, it was a back-and-forth battle between Towers and the hacker to use the app.
She was eventually able to gain access and change her PIN, but it was too late, and soon after she was booted from the account again due to too many incorrect PIN entries from the hacker.
The first notification that alerted Towers to the breach did not occur until after business hours. Towers was therefore forced to call the bank’s hotline for help and had no option where she lived to go to a branch.
“I had to wait until Monday to go to a branch to help me because they didn’t help me over the phone,” she said.
“The branch I’m going to is super nice, I’m so disappointed with their safety and decision,” she wrote.
CommBank’s initial notification said $204.32 was withdrawn from Towers’ account by someone in London, although Towers never left the country.
“I didn’t understand how my bank would allow that,” Towers said.
Towers immediately called the number provided to report suspicious activity, but was put on hold for an hour and a half, “waiting for them to answer just so I can close my account.”
He only had $200 left in his account at the time his account was closed.
Dispute the result
Towers’ transaction dispute request was not reviewed by her bank until three weeks later, but with bad news for the penniless student.
The bank provided Towers with a result that claimed that because she was aware of the money coming out of her account, it was “authorized” and therefore she would not receive any compensation.
“As you might expect, this is probably the worst possible outcome for me,” Towers said.
Towers has reported to the Australian Cyber Security Center, but the website says not all claims are being investigated by the body.
She also filed a complaint about the result with CommBank, which offers customers a one-time opportunity to reopen the case with a case manager.
Towers’ case manager told her they were going to escalate the case.
A Commonwealth Bank spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au: ‘We are always very concerned when we learn of frauds and scams affecting customers and the wider community.
“We review frauds and scams on a case-by-case basis, but it is widely recognized that scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, which has led to increased investment in the sector.”
Tuesday, Tours took to TikTok with its latest update on the saga – she had been reimbursed by CommBank.
“My original video did a lot better than I expected, it reached quite a large audience, so large in fact that even the top brass at Commonwealth Bank saw it,” Towers said.
She was refunded the full amount lost in what she said the bank called “a goodwill gesture”.
“Usually, in my case, they wouldn’t have returned my money, which also confirms the fact that the only reason they give it away is because of social media attention.”
Towers clarified that while the CommBank staff who helped her through the dispute were “amazing”, she has now switched banks.
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