A 74-year-old woman in Melbourne has been duped of $46,000 to an organised overseas scamming network.
She was groomed into buying 330 iTunes gift cards by an unknown man who called her claiming to be from a major telecommunications company.
Victoria Police said, in July, they told the woman they had deposited money into her account to ‘help fix her security’ and requested that she withdraw that money and send it via MoneyGram to various bank accounts in India.
The offenders also requested the victim withdraw cash, purchase iTunes gift cards and relay the gift card codes over the phone in order to ‘fix her security problem’.
Under the scammers’ direction, the victim purchased more than 330 iTunes gift cards from major supermarkets and retail outlets.
Yarra Crime Investigation Unit Detective Senior Constable Cameron Mitchell said it was a cruel, targeted attack which took place over seven days.
“The offenders made transfers of cash between the victim’s three bank accounts in order to confuse her and make it look like the balance of her account was increasing,” Det Sen Const Mitchell said.
“The victim believed she was transferring the telco’s money to the overseas accounts when in fact it was her own.
“It has been a traumatic experience for the victim and there is a message everyone can take from this.”
Police have urged residents to report any scams of this nature to the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN) at www.acorn.gov.au and to ensure they do not buy any vouchers.
The Federal government also provides a website which offers proactive advice for people who have been the victim of a scam: http://www.scamwatch.gov.au.
Anyone with information about the scam is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
