Fraud victim shares warning after losing life savings - 'They were nothing but lovely'

One thrifty individual met with a heartbreaking loss of her lifetime savings, despite putting in place preventive measures, when tricksters cleverly managed to imitate her bank's contact number.

Moya Crockett recently publicised her painful account of how she lost her lifelong investments through an Authorised Push Payment (APP) scam. She also shared a warning to others not to give in to optimism bias by dismissively assuming they're too cunning for tricksters.

Talking to cyber defence corporation Norton, Moya explained the series of events which started with a simple message.

The devastated victim shared: "The phishing text definitely wasn't particularly sophisticated-if it hadn't arrived late at night, I don't think I'd have fallen for it. But that was a key part of what made the scam so clever."

Armed with scanty details collected from this message, the con artists initiated minor transactions from her account; however, this marked just the beginning.

Later on, the fraudster contacted her whilst posing as a member of her banking institution's anti-fraud team. The caller enquired if she had been on the receiving end of any peculiar texts or emails recently, given that some dubious activities were noticed on her account.

While recollecting the scenario, Moya recalled the imposter presenting themselves as a representative from her bank's fraud investigation unit being "nothing but lovely and reassuring, telling me that he'd help me get everything straightened out".

This form of manipulation is typically known as social engineering, a common strategy employed by swindlers.

As the previous fraudulent transactions had come to her notice, she was aware that her account was "vulnerable and would need securing", hence, she was prompt in adhering to any guidelines to enhance her security.

To safeguard her hefty winnings, Moya swiftly moved her money to a new account on the advice given. Tragically, within just half an hour, her life savings had vanished into thin air.

She became suspicious too late when the fraudsters showed her that their call appeared to be coming from the bank's customer service number printed on her debit card - which they had cunningly mimicked.

Upon realising the grim truth of her situation, Moya felt a wave of shame and embarrassment washing over her. However, she soon reached an invaluable insight: "No one-literally no one above being scammed," and is now cautioning others not to fall prey to such scams and familiarise themselves with the signs of social engineering.

Fortuitously, Moya managed to reclaim her money through her bank, a success story not common among scam victims. Reflecting on her harrowing experience, Moya confessed: "My emotional state absolutely made me more vulnerable to being scammed."