Elderly man is swindled out of his entire life savings of $126,000 after getting a fake call from a scammer pretending to be from the NBN
- Sydney man scammed out of life savings by a scammer claiming to be from nbn
- The elderly Manly man had $126,000 stolen from him by the scammers
- They called him claiming he needed to pay a fee to connect the nbn
An elderly man has staggered dumbfounded into a police station after having his entire life savings stolen by a scammer who claimed to be from the NBN.
The 83-year-old went to the Manly Police Station on Sydney’s Northern Beaches on Thursday afternoon to report the scam and a statement from police said the man was struggling to come to terms with it.
‘My bank’s sent me here. I’ve been scammed,’ he told police.
An elderly man has staggered dumbfounded into a police station after a scammer claiming to be from nbn stole his life savings of $126,000 (stock image)
He told officers his entire life savings, equalling $126,000, had been stolen after he answered a phone call from a man purporting to be from NBN Co.
The scammer told the elderly man they needed to connect him so they needed a ‘small fee’.
The scammer was able to convince the elderly man to download an application they called ‘quicksupport’ and to stay on the phone for four hours.
Over the course of the four hours the man’s entire life savings were siphoned out of his account during several transaction.
A police statement said they had received a number of similar reports.
NBN Co’s Chief Security Officer Darren Kane said as the NBN continues to roll out throughout the country it was crucial for residents to be aware of the procedure.
‘The key point of contact for Australians connecting to the NBN access network will always be their preferred phone and internet service provider,’ she said.
‘We urge residents and businesses to be vigilant of callers claiming to be from NBN Co requesting personal or financial information.
‘We will never make unsolicited calls or door knock to sell broadband services to the public.’
From October 2018 to March 2019 there was an 84 per cent increase in the number of scam calls being reported.
NBN Co’s Chief Security Officer Darren Kane said as the nbn continues to roll out throughout the country it was crucial for residents to be aware of the procedure
Consumers lost an average of more than $110,000 each month between January and May, 2019.
This is compared with around $38,500 in monthly average losses throughout 2018 – an increase of nearly 300 per cent.
ACCC Acting Chair Delia Rickard said as nbn rolled out to more areas more scammers were using it as a cover.
‘Scammers are increasingly using trusted brands like ‘NBN’ to trick unsuspecting consumers into parting with their money or personal information,’ she said.
‘People aged over 65 are particularly vulnerable, making the most reports and losing more than $330,000 this year. That’s more than 60 per cent of the current losses.’