After spending sixty years as a nurse, Roslyn was good in a crisis. However, nothing could have prepared her for the near loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars after responding to what she believed was a legitimate email requesting payment to finalise the purchase of her new home.
The Townsville grandmother had viewed numerous houses before finding one she fell in love with during a drive with her daughter. Just fifteen minutes after visiting the open home, she made an offer on the house, which was accepted later that same day.
“I fell in love with it. I had been searching for a while and had missed out on several homes, so I wanted to act quickly. I was over the moon when my offer was accepted; I felt so lucky,” Roslyn said.
Expecting an email from her solicitor with the payment details needed to complete the sale, Roslyn visited her local Westpac branch to initiate the transfer. Fortunately, Kym, a Personal Banking Specialist at Westpac, noticed that the bank's 24/7 scam detection system had flagged the transaction as high risk. So before proceeding with the transfer she made sure to verify the details.
“The BSB was from a Sydney branch, while the house and the solicitor were both in Townsville. Why would the bank account be in Sydney? That was enough for me to call the solicitor and confirm it was a scam,” Kym said.
When Roslyn learned it was a scam, she was shocked and initially refused to believe it.
“As a nurse, I’ve learned to be assertive, so I pushed back and said, ‘No – it’s not a scam.’ But when Kym explained why it was, I was gobsmacked. I couldn’t believe it; it seemed so convincing.
“Then I got angry. How dare someone try to steal my hard-earned money and my home?” Roslyn said.
This type of scam, known as business email compromise or a payment redirection scam, continues to catch out many Australians. They occur when scammers intercept the emails of a business and replace the BSB and account number on invoices with their own.
Business email compromise is the fifth most common scam type, according to Westpac data, but ranks third highest in terms of gross losses.
The good news is the bank is seeing a declining trend is this type of scam thanks to last year’s introduction of the Westpac Verify function. This alerts customers to a potential account name mismatch when they’re adding a new payee using a BSB and account number.
Tips to protect yourself
Now settled in her new home, Roslyn is thankful that Kym spotted the red flag. She is now on a mission to ensure that everyone knows to double-check payment details before transferring any money.
“I came very close to losing my home, but all it took was a couple of minutes to verify the payment details. I urge everyone – before you transfer money, call the person you are paying to confirm the details,” she said.
Ben Young, Westpac's Head of Fraud Prevention, has two tips to help avoid losing money to business email compromise or payment redirection scams:
• Call before paying: Phone the person or company you are paying, ideally using a publicly sourced phone number or one you have from previous communications. Some scammers will alter contact details in the email or invoice to mislead you, so it's crucial to verify contact information beyond what is provided in the invoice.
• Opt for PayID: Ask if you can pay via PayID. This method allows you to verify the recipient, as the registered payee's name will be displayed, helping to confirm that you're sending money to the correct person.
Josh Wall is the Head of Video at Westpac Wire. Prior to joining the team, he spent 10 years as a video journalist and documentary filmmaker, most recently as Head of Video for the Guardian Australia. He also worked across numerous News Corp mastheads in Sydney as a presenter, producer, writer and video journalist. Josh is originally from Perth, Western Australia where he began his career by co-creating a video magazine that focused on music and the arts.
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