PHOTO: The director of Consumer Affairs Victoria, Simon Cohen, said that it was “vital” that people involved in purchasing a property pay close attention to detail when transferring significant funds for a home deposit.
Consumer Affairs Victoria has warned all affected parties, including real estate agents and home buyers, of a possible scam targeting vulnerable buyers, with losses already exceeding $200,000.
The Victorian consumer affairs regulator has said that it has received notification about hackers targeting the email accounts of real estate agencies and attempting to scam home buyers into paying their deposits into the wrong bank account.
Consumer Affairs Victoria elaborated: “In most cases, the home buyer was sent an email from the selling agent with the contract of sale and trust account details for payment of the deposit. Shortly afterwards, they received a second email from the same email address, advising them of an `error’ in the first email, and to deposit their money into a different account.
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