When Victor Shaw discovered that scammers had stolen his dad's life savings, he held out little hope of a positive outcome. But then a letter arrived from ANZ that left him stunned.

Summary

  • Alex Shaw, a 78-year-old man from Hobart, was the victim of a scam that resulted in the loss of almost half a million dollars.

  • The scammers contacted Alex and told him to purchase hundreds of dollars’ worth of Apple gift cards and provide the serial numbers to them. They also encouraged him to transfer money into a cryptocurrency account or click on links that promised thousands of dollars in grant money.

  • Alex’s bank account was initially suspended due to the suspicious transactions via Anydesk, but it was later reactivated by Alex upon the scammers’ coaching. The scammers continued to withdraw money from Alex’s account until it was empty.

  • Alex’s son, Victor, filed a complaint with ANZ, the bank where Alex’s account was held. ANZ initially said that it could only recover a small amount of the money, but it later reversed its decision and agreed to reimburse Alex the full amount of the scam.

  • ANZ said that it could have done more to support Alex given his history with scams. The bank also said that it is constantly reviewing and adjusting its capabilities to keep customers safe.

  • Dementia Australia, which advocates for people with dementia, said that people with dementia are particularly vulnerable to deception. The organization urged families to have conversations with their loved ones about money and to put in place mechanisms to protect them from scams.