Callous scammers who tricked a Tokoroa couple into paying a deposit on a rental property that wasn’t their’s later used their stolen identity details to clean out their bank account.
“That’s our whole weeks worth of shopping, that’s my rent for the week. That’s us kinda of screwed,” scam victim Ben Galley said.
The owners of Galley’s current rental were selling, so the family of four were looking for new place to call home.
They’d had a tough year and found what they thought was the perfect home after posting on Facebook – but it turned out to be too good to be true.
Christel Yardley/Stuff
Ben Galley Alice Lennon, Abel Galley, 18 months, Skyla-Rose Galley, 8, live in Tokoroa.
Galley filled out a tenancy agreement with personal details; sent copies of his licence, bank statements and his partner’s birth certificate; and paid $100 to reserve the property before realising it was a scam.
They were gutted, but prepared to write it off and learn from the experience. “We won’t be so dumb next time,” he said.
Then almost two weeks later, Galley woke up to find his savings account– where his $360 Work and Income benefit had been sitting – was empty.
Galley rang the bank, and was told someone impersonating him had transferred the money out.
“I’m really gutted. This one was a kick in the guts. I could live with $100, but this is s….”
The bank froze his account, and launched a fraud investigation. The police were also notified.
Galley had posted…
