Elderly south-west couple fleeced of $29k in scam

The couple, who wanted to remain anonymous, contacted The Standard wanting to warn innocent south-west people to be wary of scammers.

The husband said he was mystified $29,973 could be taken out of their account because it had a daily limit of $20,000.

"I'm not sure where this country is going to with the banks telling everyone to use online banking," he told The Standard.

"We've been hard-working farmers who now question how things are operating with online banking. It appears to me the scammers are well in front of the banks. I just can't work out how the extra $9973 can go out of our account when our daily limit is $20,000.

"There's somewhere in this that you just start losing trust in what is happening."

The scammers made a phone call to their landline saying they were from the NBN and asked if their internet was running slow before asking for the woman's mobile number.

She spoke with the scammer who assured her their internet would run quicker after he had done necessary works to their computer.

A relation arrived and alerted the couple it looked like they were being scammed.

The wife phoned Warrnambool's Rural Bank asking for their accounts to be frozen.

The bank informed them it looked like $50,000 may have been taken before coming back saying $29,973 was taken out in five transactions.

A spokesman for Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, which owns Rural Bank, declined to comment on the individual case.

"Bendigo and Adelaide Bank takes cyber security very seriously," the spokesman said.

"We use a combination of standard industry practices to safeguard our systems and protect customer data.

"Bendigo and Adelaide Bank provides customers with regular scam alerts and maintains a webpage with general tips for customers on how to keep their details safe at: www.bendigobank.com.au/security

"We would like to take the opportunity to remind customers of the important role they play in keeping their information secure, as we continue to look for new ways to detect and neutralise threats to their online security."

He urged consumers to never reveal e-banking pincodes to anyone or allow callers remote access to computers.

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