Crim takes $25k despite fluffing bank questions
Conwoman persuades ANZ staff to change victim’s account details
A fraudster stole $25,000 from a bank account after convincing ANZ staff to change the details of the woman she was impersonating.
Bank staff cleared the change even though the conwoman failed security questions and even struggled to pronounce the account holder’s name.
Brydie Meinung found her three accounts had been emptied only after her card was declined when she tried to pay for parking.
“I thought that was weird.” She went into the ANZ branch to find what was going on and said for the first 20 minutes they accused her of doing it.
“They were absolutely horrible.” She said it wasn’t until she broke down in tears that staff believed her.
Finally, they took her to the manager and she found the fraud had been going on for three days. But it had not brought up internal red flags at the bank: “No one had picked up on the suspicious behaviour.”
She asked the bank for money so she could pay for her parking but said they refused.
“I had to call my mum in Dunedin and ask her to transfer money to my account.”
She then asked the bank how she would pay rent and said they told her to get help from friends and family.
An ANZ spokesman said the impersonator changed Meinung’s phone and email details after correctly answering personal questions but there were “other factors” staff might have been alerted to, which it had since addressed.
He said customer information could be obtained in ways that sometimes were beyond the bank’s control: “We are continually updating our authentication processes to prevent fraud.”
Kiwis lost $33 million to online scams and fraud last year — triple the amount in 2017. Online safety agency Netsafe said 13,000 scams and frauds were reported last year.
Meinung didn’t know how the fraudster got her personal information
but believed her Facebook account was tracked and information was gathered from her business listing.
She said after listening to recordings of the impersonator’s calls supplied by police — who are investigating — there seemed to be incompetence by staff.
The impersonator, who rang the bank six times, struggled to say her last name, couldn’t answer the security questions and whispered into the phone to try to get around the voice identification system.
The impersonator initially transferred money between Meinung’s accounts, triggering alerts to the fraudster’s phone and email. They were used to reset a password which meant the accounts could be accessed.
Meinung said it took 23 days for the bank to return her money — a timeframe the bank disputes.
The spokesman said the money was retrieved in three days and reimbursed to the account it came from, although it conceded it should have told Meinung which account it was putting the money into.
“We apologise and should have advised the customer what account we returned the money to.”
Meinung said there was no way it was only three days.
“I missed automatic payments, so I got a lot of fees.”
She was running a marketing business and had a team of subcontractors.
But without the money she couldn’t pay them for the month.
“It impacted me so much. It was so stressful. I couldn’t pay rent, buy food and couldn’t keep the business going.”
The stress also triggered her autoimmune disease, which made her ill.
The bank offered Meinung $500 compensation and an apology. But she said she felt insulted and declined.
After battling illness and a busy time merging her business with another company, she decided to let it go and move on.
The account identity fraud took place in July last year. In August Meinung discovered about 15 transactions had been made on her debitcard account for a rental car, hotel, gambling and petrol over several weeks.
“They were in places I had never been to before.”
She said the bank blamed it on her card being skimmed but Meinung said she had not been anywhere that could have happened.
Two weeks later she went to pick up her replacement card only to find her credit card had also been used by someone else. The bank did pick up on this and put a temporary block in place.
Meinung discovered the bank had sent her two cards but they were stolen from her letterbox.
“They didn’t tell me they had sent new cards in all the phone calls I made.”
Asked why it had not told Meinung it was sending her new cards, the ANZ spokesman said all cards it issued were active, meaning they could be used straight away.
“If customers are concerned, they are able to request a locked card that can be activated upon receipt by the customer.”
The case comes as Westpac Bank in Australia faces allegations over 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering laws.
Meinung felt let down by her bank — the only one she had been with.
“What I am angry about is ANZ should have way better security in place. This is not cyber hacking, this is really simple stuff.”
She is still with the bank but may leave, saying it had been difficult to get someone to take it seriously.
The ANZ spokesman said it had offered to meet the customer several times but the offers weren’t taken up.