A shattered couple have been forced to delay their plans to start a family after a scammer wiped almost $100,000 in savings from their Bendigo Bank account.
Scott and Danielle White now have just $1,500 left to live on after falling prey to a scammer who called them on Monday and impersonated staff from the bank.
The man told Mr White to give him a personal security code and within minutes the fraudster stole more than $98,000.
The heartbroken couple have been left disappointed and frustrated as they struggle to come to terms with what they need to do next.
Mr White explained the scammer knew all of his internet banking details.
‘I have pretty much no online footprint. I’ve never had social media. I don’t do much even on my phone outside of the usual things,’ he told The Project on Tuesday.
‘He knew my access codes. He knew the security systems that Bendigo Bank used. He knew details about me that you can only get once you’re logged in.’
Mr White asked the man to prove he was employed at the bank and was sent a text message that appeared to be from the bank.
‘He knew details about me that you can only get once you’re logged in.’
The text message looked exactly like some of the previous conversations he had with the bank through threads in the messages on his phone.
Ms White said the couple are now strapped for cash on top of soaring veterinary bills to look after their sick dog.
‘We have no money left – only what I got paid from work, and that’s not going to last very long,’ she said.
‘We just recently found out that our dog has got cancer all through her body, so we have tons of vet bills to try and just basically keep her alive for a little bit longer.’
The Project host Sarah Harris was seen looking emotional and angry as she listened to the couple’s harrowing story.
‘Guys, we are just so sorry that you’re going through this. It’s just….these bloody scumbags are out there and destroying lives,’ she told the couple.
Mr White is currently on income protection due to recent knee surgery.
The couple have also been trying for a family and saving for IVF treatment.
Ms White struggled to hold back tears and broke down as she attempted to explain how their future plans have been derailed, which they’d kept from family- until now.
‘We wanted to start IVF because we’ve been trying for a while to no success – not even a little bit of hope. So, a lot of it was going towards IVF,’ Mr White said.
Mr White said their family do not know what has happened and said they were planning on undertaking at least 10 cycles of IVF.
‘We been trying for a baby for a very long time. This was literally happening next month to start all of our treatments. So it’s just really hard,’ Ms White said.
The couple have seen not only the worst but also the best in humanity in the last 24 hours.
Their neighbours offered the couple a loan to help get back on their feet, along with a care package filled with sweets and chocolate.
‘We are very lucky,’ Ms White said.
The story sparked host Waleed Aly to call on authorities to do more.
‘Here’s hoping you get the money back one way or another and let’s hope there’s government or corporate action to stop this happening,’ he said.
‘We could do a story like this every day, and that’s not an acceptable cost of doing business.’
ns lost more $2.7billion to scams in 2023 and over 600,000 scam reports were made according to a report by the ACCC.
Investment scams claimed the most amount of money, with Aussies losing a massive $1.3billion.
A Bendigo Bank spokesperson said the bank attempts to reimburse funds lost to scams wherever possible.
‘When the bank is at fault, we will reimburse customers for the loss of funds.’ the spokesperson said.
Daily Mail has contacted Bendigo Bank for further comment.
Opportunities to save and earn more money
Scammers can trick people by telling them about great deals and offers to boost their income.
These deals are often fake and are designed to get people to unknowingly give hackers money.
These schemes also pressure people to act quickly to take advantage of a limited time offer, but it is designed to rush people into giving away their savings.
Requests to help unknown people in need
Scammers will often appeal to people to donate money to unknown people who are in need.
Anyone targeted by these individuals are urged not to give them money.
Links and attachments
Scams are also set up through links and attachments to websites, which are sent in an email or text.
Anyone who receives these links are urged not to click on them as they are designed to steal money and personal information.
Requests to pay for things using unusual payment methods
Anyone asked to pay for products using preloaded debit cards or virtual currency like Bitcoin are likely being asked to do so by a scammer.
Once a payment is made using these methods, the money can never be recovered.
Scammers can also target people by asking them to set up a new bank account or pay ID.
Anyone asked to do so should not set up a new bank account.
Banks do not ask their customers to create a new account to keep their money safe.