Thieves drained $150,000 from the victim’s accounts, then used his credit cards to purchase up to $70,000 of Prezzy Cards at service stations.
Cyber criminals convinced an elderly man his credit cards had been “compromised”, gained access to his online banking then drained $150,000 from his accounts, all while spying on the pensioner for seven hours via his laptop’s webcam.
They rang the man on his landline pretending to be from Westpac Bank’s fraud team, saying his account had been used in Los Angeles and the only way to recover the money was to share his banking details.
They then sent him a suspect email that his family believe gave the thieves unfettered access to the 82-year-old’s computer.
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The crooks successfully transferred $150,000 from the man’s online accounts at Westpac, ANZ and HSBC on to his credit cards before sending a “courier” to his house to pick up the “compromised” cards as part of a bogus bank security operation.
Next, they drove to various service stations around South Auckland and used the man’s credit cards to purchase up to $70,000 of Prezzy Cards – a ploy to launder fraudulently obtained money.
The man’s daughter arrived at his house during the ruse and realised he’d been duped, shutting down his computer and disconnecting his phone.
Undeterred, the scammers tried ringing the man more than 60 times over the next two hours, eager to fleece him for every last possible cent.
