73-year-old in financial ruin after fraudsters drain life savings from bank account in just 25 minutes

Gay de Beer was working on her laptop when her screen went black and a message appeared that she had a huge virus.

Little did she know it would turn into a nightmare that would see her lose her life savings – drained from her Bendigo Bank account in just 25 minutes.

“It was a disaster for me,” she told news.com.au.

The Melbourne woman had called a number purporting to be from Microsoft, which appeared to notify her of the virus on her computer in May.

She was told that someone was trying to access her PayPal account and her debit card details had also been leaked.

“I must have been bulldozed, but I kept listening and asked if it was a hoax,” she said.

“I gave them access to my computer and they said they would stop it and I was watching what they were doing.”

De Beer had fallen victim to a remote access scam. Between 12.26pm and 1pm, the fraudsters transferred her entire life savings – all $44,000.

However, she realized the dire situation while the transfers were still being made and said she rushed out the door of a Bendigo Bank branch just five minutes down the road.

She is angry that at least the final transaction was not stopped as she was in the bank branch while it was happening.

She is also critical that funds in some cases were transferred with numbers and letters that did not make sense as the name of the transaction. She cannot understand why Bendigo Bank’s systems did not pick up this unusual fraudulent activity.

Tragically, the loss of funds has left her suicidal, she said, claiming there was no empathy from Bendigo Bank for losing her savings.

“That was my security to pay for my car and rent, I do a bit of bookkeeping and travel sharing to supplement my pension,” she said.

“Otherwise I have nothing and no one and I have no family in Australia.”

The 73-year-old is absolutely horrified that one of the transfers was made to another Bendigo Bank account, police told her, but only $7500 of the funds have been recovered.

She said the four transfers were in the amounts of $19,900, $9,900, $4,900 and $9,400.

de Beer is also critical that fraudsters seem to simply get away with their crimes.

“I have the names of the two accounts the money was transferred to, so why can’t the police track these people down and get the money back?” she asked.

“Bendigo Bank said I was fully and completely responsible for the transactions as I gave them access through my biometrics. I’m absolutely gutted thinking I’ve lost all my money.”

She has been greatly affected by the experience.

“My mental health has hit the wall, every time I have to do something I have to think can I afford to do this? I’ve had back problems and I can’t afford to do ongoing treatment as it costs $80 and I don’t have the money,” she said.

“That money was to service my car and live for the rest of my life and now I have nothing.

“I’m retired and I get $540 a week and my rent is $270 and that’s my only permanent income.”

She has taken her case to AFCA and at a recent conciliation meeting was offered a goodwill payment of $2000 from Bendigo Bank, which she has refused.

Banks are required to pay AFCA money as part of the complaints process.

“Why don’t they put the money back into my account instead of paying AFCA? Bendigo Bank’s profit in the last six months just makes you shudder.

“They should have an emergency fund when such situations occur as this is caused mental anguish.”

For the 2024 financial year, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank reported profit after tax of $545 million 9.7 per cent for the year.

The accountant is also critical that the transfer limit can be increased with a “click of a button” instead of putting in place strict security systems, adding that she had never transferred such large sums of money in her account history.

“They raised the limit to $50,000 and I didn’t even get $50,000,” she added.

de Beer is also scathing that Bendigo Bank returned Australian comedy pioneer Rod Quantock his $30,000 savings after he transferred the money to a fraudster’s account when he was told it had been hacked. The payoff of the good name came only after he spoke to the media.

“They paid Rod the $30,000 he lost and he did it himself. It is cut and dried that the money has been transferred to the account. This has created a precedent”, she added.

“Mine came out in four lots, but I wasn’t the one who transferred it.

“I’m really at my wits end and I think this money should be refunded and not just offered $2,000.”

Another Bendigo Bank customer Sylvie Leber also fell victim to a similar scam in March this year losing her $20,000 savings.

Her daughter has been left furious, arguing that victims of fraud are treated appallingly as they are accused of being negligent rather than being classed as victims.

A spokesman for Bendigo Bank said it protects the privacy of its customers and does not comment on specific matters.

“Bendigo Bank takes cyber security very seriously, protecting our customers and protecting our systems with a range of cybercrime prevention methods. By working together with our customers, we can further reduce the incidence of fraud and fraud,” they said.

“It is important that customers take steps to protect themselves and not share their passwords or allow someone they do not know or trust to access their computer remotely, as it is extremely difficult to recover money that have been transferred to fraudsters.”

Bendigo Bank strives to recover funds lost to fraud wherever possible and it goes without saying where the bank is at fault we will reimburse customers for lost funds, they added.

“Every fraud and financial crime case is unique, and every fraud loss is treated with equal care and consideration. Goodwill payments are sometimes made at the discretion of the bank and may take into account a number of factors.”

Bendigo Bank continues to work with our financial sector colleagues, fintech companies, government, regulators and law enforcement agencies to combat what is organized criminal activity, they added.

“The Bank’s security staff remain vigilant and work closely with Australian cyber security agencies, intelligence and technology partners to detect any malicious or abnormal behaviour,” they said.

“In the financial year ending June 30, 2024, the Bank stopped $34.4 million in fraudulent transactions. The bank has tightened transaction rules that block high-risk payments to cryptocurrency exchanges, removed all unexpected links from SMS messages and significantly increased the size of its fraud prevention and response team.

“The bank has added more than 400 phone and fax numbers to our telecom provider’s ‘do not originate’ list which will prevent fraudsters from impersonating our people.”

Bendigo Bank has also recently introduced an advanced security tool, NameCheck, which is now being used to check all payments made by Bendigo Bank and Up customers every time they enter the BSB and account number for a new payee , they said.