Two n comedy legends were left stunned after claiming a bank refused to help track down their stolen money as it would invade customer privacy.
Victorian couple Rod Quantock and Mary Kenneally claimed their cry for help was turned down by HSBC late last year.
Mr Quantock had a day earlier received a call from someone claiming to be from his financial institution Bendigo Bank, The Age reported.
He was told by the fraudster the couple’s account had been hacked and he needed to transfer funds into another account that been created to stop the scam.
Still recovering from the anaesthetic from a recent cardiac procedure, Mr Quantock transferred $30,000.
Sensing something was not right, he contacted his local Bendigo Bank branch.
He was told the person he had spoken to was a fraudster and their money had been sent to an HSBC account.
‘I could hear Rod in the back room talking to someone on the phone… for a long time,’ Ms Kenneally said.
‘Rod sounded very serious. A little bit alarming.’
Mr Quantock and Ms Keneally, who both live on the aged pension, said HSBC were able to restrict the account their money had been transferred into after being alerted by Bendigo Bank.
Less than $3,000 of the $30,0000 could be retrieved.
The next day, Ms Kenneally contacted HSBC to track down their funds.
‘They refused to do anything as they could not “invade their customer’s privacy,”‘ she said.
Mr Quantock and Ms Kenneally claimed following the media attention, they were promised they would be fully compensated for their loss.
Ms Kenneally said they have simple questions that haven’t been answered by their bank.
‘Why couldn’t our bank reverse the transaction? Or put a time delay on unusual payments?’ she said.
Ms Kenneally said they weren’t offered any advice on what to do and added the banks ‘don’t seem to care at all.’
An HSBC spokeswoman told Daily Mail protecting customers ‘from criminals is critical’.
‘While there is always more work to be done when combatting scammers, HSBC together with the industry has been doing everything it can to protect customers,’ she said.
Mr Quantock and Ms Kenneally are a prominent couple in n comedy, best known for their work in live theatre and television, and worked together on the 80’s sketch comedy series You’re Standing In It.