Fraudster who was unable to pronounce the name of the bank she was claiming to be a customer of is able to steal $25,000
- Brydie Meinung’s three bank accounts were completely emptied in July 2018
- She was hospitalised, had no money to run her business, or for food and rent
- She claims ANZ was ‘despicable and completely unsupportive’ of the fraud
- Ms Meinung said the incident occurred two more times almost a year later
Brydie Meinung’s three bank accounts were drained when she returned to Auckland in July 2018
A woman said bank staff were ‘absolutely horrible’ when she alerted them to $25,000 stolen from her account after a fraudster impersonated her.
Brydie Meinung’s three bank accounts were drained when she returned to Auckland in July 2018 and was trying to pay for her parking.
She went to a ANZ branch and questioned them about it and said they accused her of emptying her account herself.
‘I ended up being hospitalised because the stress of no money for rent and food and no money to run my business glared up my autoimmune,’ she wrote on Facebook.
‘And I received NO help. They wouldn’t even give me money to get out of the parking building I was in.
‘They wiped out my whole personal and two business accounts.
She claims ANZ was ‘despicable and completely unsupportive’ and allowed the incident to occur two more times almost a year later.
‘They have let it happen another two times only two weeks apart.
‘I have been offered NOTHING to at least apologise for issues.’
Ms Meinung (pictured) said the theft didn’t make her feel safe and because no one picked up on the suspicious behaviour
Ms Meinung said the theft didn’t make her feel safe and she was shocked no one picked up on the suspicious behaviour.
Upon listening to the recorded phone calls, Ms Meinung said the fraudster called the bank six times and was unable to pronounce her last name or the security questions.
The fraudster than transferred the funds between the three accounts which then triggered alerts to the perpetrator’s phone.
The alerts allowed the impersonator to change Ms Meinung’s password and remove the money with only 10 transactions, NZ Herald reported.
When she requested money to pay for her parking and rent, she claims the bank refused.
She messaged her mother asking if she could transfer her some money while the bank sorted it out.
Ms Meinung claims it took the bank 23 days to return her money, but ANZ refutes that saying it took them three days.
‘We reinstated the money to the account the money was taken from, not the account it was moved from (and where the customer expected to see it reinstated), which is our standard practice,’ a spokesman told the publication.
She was also offered $500 and an apology as compensation, which Ms Meinung called an insult after all the emotional struggle she went through.
‘What I am angry about is ANZ should have way better security in place. This is not cyber hacking, this is really simple stuff,’ Ms Meinung said.
A fraudster contacted ANZ and impersonated Ms Meinung and proceeded to steal her $25,000