Harriet lost $1.6 million to a scam. She wants the government to act and the bank to pay up

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A woman from Canberra has decided to speak out about how she came to lose $1.6 million dollars in a scam. Harriet Spring lost her elderly mothers life savings and says banks should better protect consumers from fraud and reimburse victims. Experts agree, arguing scammers have come too sophisticated and complex for most people to detect.

Transcript

00:00It started with an innocuous phone call from a bank.

00:06He was offering good rates on fixed-term deposits.

00:09Nothing crazy, nothing too out of the ordinary.

00:12So I didn't think, oh, that sounds too good to be true.

00:15The timing was perfect.

00:17Harriet Spring was selling the family home on behalf of her 95-year-old mum

00:23after a series of strokes necessitated full-time aged care.

00:27It was completely at the end of a very hard year,

00:30and this guy just made it easy.

00:32Through several months of phone calls and correspondence,

00:36George convinced Mrs Spring to transfer $1.6 million.

00:41It didn't sound dodgy in any way.

00:44The real ING bank wasn't involved in any part of the process,

00:48and Mrs Spring says the money's now long gone.

00:51Her appeals for information have been unsuccessful.

00:55Others have similar sad stories.

00:58Our lawyers are hearing everyday stories of people being tricked

01:02with highly complicated, sophisticated scams.

01:05Australians lost $2.7 billion to scammers last year,

01:10down from a record high in 2022,

01:13but almost $1 billion more than two years ago.

01:17Phony investments led to the highest losses.

01:20It's near impossible to detect a scam in many cases,

01:24and therefore it's near impossible to protect yourself.

01:27Aussie banks are now facing demands to boost their fraud prevention

01:32and adopt a UK-style model of reimbursement for scam victims.

01:36I can't trust anything anymore.

01:38You should be ensured that your money is kept safe,

01:41and if it's not, then you should be reimbursed.

01:44But the federal government is confident initiatives

01:47like the National Anti-Scam Centre

01:50and a new automated confirmation of payee technology

01:53will help.

01:54We need the obligation to be at the party

01:58that is really doing the wrong thing.

02:00That technology will be rolled out by the end of 2025.

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