Couple lost Rs 2 crore to scammers while buying home, 10 years of savings lost in one go

It seems that a lot of scams are going around the globe as we are hearing about people losing millions of money. Simon Elvins and his wife are one of them. After a decade of savings, the couple were thrilled to finally purchase their first home in New South Wales. However, their joy turned into a nightmare when they fell victim to a payment redirection scam. Here is what happened.

In May, Simon received an invoice from his conveyancer for the initial home deposit on their Blue Mountains property. He promptly made two transfers totaling $274,311 (around Rs 2 crore) as instructed in an email. Days passed without confirmation, and upon contacting the conveyancers and the real estate agent, they discovered the scam - criminals had intercepted the email, altered the invoice's account details, and swindled their deposit. Interception basically here means that the scammers stopped the money from reaching its intended destination and stole the money.

This was a classic example of a payment redirection scam, where scammers impersonate businesses via email and manipulate recipients into sending money to an account controlled by the fraudster, according to a report from The Guardian.

Payment redirection scams are on the rise, with small businesses losing $13.7 million to scams in 2022, a 95% increase from the previous year. These scams are often referred to as business email compromise. Simon's money, transferred from his Westpac account to a NAB account, disappeared within hours. Attempts to recover the funds proved challenging, with the couple receiving only $270.72 back.

After going through some legal challenges, Simon and his wife managed to keep their house by paying a 10 percent deposit to the real estate agent. But they now face a larger mortgage than anticipated. They urge banks to take more responsibility in protecting customers from sophisticated scams, as the burden for verification currently falls on customers.

There is another odd news that was just recently reported. An IT professional from Bengaluru, Anupam Jain, faced a harrowing ordeal on his return from Chicago via London with British Airways. His missing suitcase contained a laptop, Apple Watch, AirPods, a child's backpack, and a Kindle. Jain reported the missing bag upon landing at Bengaluru Airport on July 28. However, upon arriving home, he discovered that another suitcase had been tampered with and left unlocked. Jain suspected the incident occurred at London's Heathrow Airport, where electronics were moved to a backpack he'd bought for his daughter, and the suitcase was resealed. British Airways initially provided little assistance, causing frustration and delays.