Joy for MasterChef star who was left homeless after hackers stole $250,000

MasterChef star Dani Venn cried tears of joy last night when she found out she would get back her $250,000 house sale money which was stolen by hackers. 

The 32-year-old and her husband Chris Burgess sold their home in Smiths Gully, Melbourne on June 15 but the proceeds were stolen by a ‘sophisticated hacker,’ leaving them unable to buy their new dream home.

Dani was forced to move in with her mother and two small children while Chris lived in a caravan, leaving her distraught.

Former MasterChef contestant Dani Venn was facing every family’s worst nightmare after hackers stole the settlement with which she planned to buy a new home – but she will be gifted the money back

The couple were using a new electronic property transfer system run by Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) when they were defrauded by a hacker who got into their account.

On Wednesday, they were overjoyed when the acting CEO called them to say the company would gift them the amount that was stolen.

‘They are going to gift back our money,’ Dani cried with relief when speaking to A Current Affair.

The couple wanted to purchase a new home in the Mornington Peninsula.

That dream was in jeopardy until they were told they would get the money back so can now settle on their new house.

‘They have said they will transfer the money into our account and we can settle so we can move in this weekend,’ Dani said through tears.

On Tuesday, a devastated Dani told the show: ‘This is our life savings here, we’ve got two small children, a four-and-a-half month old, and a three-and-a half-year old – you just can’t do this to people.’        

‘We haven’t been able to settle on the property. We stand to lose our deposit of $80,000 and the new house,’ Dani told the Sydney Morning Herald. 

‘We are also getting charged interest of $500 a day on a default notice until we can come up with the money,’ she said. 

Dani’s bank, Commonwealth, was able to freeze $138,000 but the hackers stole the other $112,000. 

The CBA provided a statement to the Daily Mail Australia, reading: ‘We are aware of the issues relating to PEXA and have begun an immediate investigation. We are currently assisting the appropriate authorities with their inquiries on this matter.’

Dani, 32, and her husband, Chris Burgess, have told the Sydney Morning Herald that 'hackers stole $250,000 from the proceeds of their home sale' while it was being settled via an online property transfer system

Dani, 32, and her husband, Chris Burgess, have told the Sydney Morning Herald that ‘hackers stole $250,000 from the proceeds of their home sale’ while it was being settled via an online property transfer system

The chef and her husband say they had sold their Smiths Gully, Melbourne home (pictured) and unknowingly transferred the $250,000 proceeds into the account of a 'sophisticated hacker'

The chef and her husband say they had sold their Smiths Gully, Melbourne home (pictured) and unknowingly transferred the $250,000 proceeds into the account of a ‘sophisticated hacker’

'We haven't been able to settle on the property. We stand to lose our deposit of $80,000 and the new house,' Dani said (The family's former Smiths Gully is home pictured)

‘We haven’t been able to settle on the property. We stand to lose our deposit of $80,000 and the new house,’ Dani said (The family’s former Smiths Gully is home pictured)

'We are also getting charged interest of $500 a day on a default notice until we can come up with the money,' Dani explained 

‘We are also getting charged interest of $500 a day on a default notice until we can come up with the money,’ Dani explained 

PEXA acting chief executive James Ruddock refused to answer questions or be interviewed by A Current Affair.

In a statement, he said: ‘PEXA has robust fraud protections and strict authentication procedures built into its platform. These are isolated incidents and do not represent a wider or systemic risk to the PEXA platform.’

A statement on the PEXA website stated: ‘On Monday 18 June, at approximately 5pm, PEXA was made aware of a fraudulent situation where a practitioner’s email account was compromised.

‘In this instance, an unknown party intercepted a change-in-password email sent from the PEXA platform which in turn allowed this person to access the Subscriber’s PEXA account. 

‘As a result, the destination account details in the settlement schedule were fraudulently changed.’ 

The pair, along with their two young children, had moved out of the home and were living in a relative's spare room while the situation was investigated

The pair, along with their two young children, had moved out of the home and were living in a relative’s spare room while the situation was investigated

Dani appeared on the 2011 season of MasterChef and was a controversial contestant with a big personality. 

She told PopSugar at the time: ‘I honestly just wanted to be myself, to give everything of my personality, which has divided people. Some people can’t handle that I’m quite a big personality. I’m totally myself on camera.’

She now runs The Wholehearted Cook website and Instagram account, which has 27K followers.  

Cooking up a storm: Dani runs The Wholehearted Cook website and Instagram account, which has 27K followers

Cooking up a storm: Dani runs The Wholehearted Cook website and Instagram account, which has 27K followers

Happy family: The chef and her husband Chris were married in 2017 after ten years together, and have two children, a a daughter, Harlow, three, and a son, Oscar, four months

Happy family: The chef and her husband Chris were married in 2017 after ten years together, and have two children, a a daughter, Harlow, three, and a son, Oscar, four months

The chef and her husband Chris were married in 2017 after ten years together, and have two children, a daughter, Harlow, three, and a son, Oscar, four months. 

Dani had dreamed of having her own home with Chris back in 2011, telling Now To Love that she and her New-Zealander partner were already planning it.   

She said at the time: ‘We live together now and will hopefully buy a house soon.’

Big plans: Dani had dreamed of having her own home with Chris back in 2011, telling Now To Love that she and her New-Zealander partner were already planning it

Big plans: Dani had dreamed of having her own home with Chris back in 2011, telling Now To Love that she and her New-Zealander partner were already planning it



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