PHOTO: FILE
A fresh wave of redirection scams has put home buyers on high alert after a man was swindled out of $153,950 during a property settlement. This incident is part of a larger trend, with over $500,000 lost by Western Australians to such scams in 2024 alone.
The scammers intercepted emails between the victim and the lender’s settlement agent. They then sent a doctored email that appeared to be from the settlement contact, with only a slight difference in the email addresses— a subtle change that the buyer did not notice. The fraudulent email included new bank details for the settlement funds, leading the buyer to deposit the money into the scammer’s account.
In 2024, eleven victims in Western Australia have fallen prey to these scams, resulting in a loss of $503,285—about $2000 more than the total sum lost to redirection scams in the state in 2023.
According to the WA consumer watchdog, property settlements are the most commonly targeted transactions. However, buyers have also been scammed during vehicle purchases, building contract finalizations, and even making funeral payments.
“Known as ‘payment redirection’ scams, these stings often target high-value financial transactions such as real estate and vehicle purchases, and business contracts,” Consumer Protection WA stated. “The fraudsters hack into email accounts and gain information about ongoing financial transactions. They then either take control of the business’s email address or create a nearly identical one, making it difficult to distinguish from the original. This scam particularly targets victims who may be expecting a message requesting payment and are less likely to question it.”
WA Commerce Minister Sue Ellery has urged consumers to be wary of emails that indicate a business is changing its bank account details. “The large losses from these scams are extremely devastating to the victims,” Ellery said in a statement. “They can be people who have been saving for years for a home deposit that has now been lost to scammers, or it could be a business doing it tough that can least afford to lose a large amount of money. People working in industries where large amounts of money are transacted, and consumers need to be extra vigilant when acting on payment requests. Be suspicious of any email asking for a payment of money or advising of a change in bank account details to where payments are to be sent. We also ask that businesses warn their clients or contractors and train their staff to be scam aware.”
Australians transferring large sums of money are urged to be suspicious of sudden changes in bank account numbers communicated via email. These simple precautions can help prevent devastating financial losses.
SOURCE: DOMAIN