Crisis: Sam Henderson
Even an expert can be caught out by those ever more resourceful fraudsters
Who would have thought a finance expert could be scammed? But that’s exactly what happened to me in the Christmas holidays. On the insistent direction of my well-meaning partner Victoria, I transferred more than $5000 to an overseas bank account. She had taken over the process of booking our family holiday in Hawaii as I was deeply entrenched in work for the Christmas rush.
Our beautiful-looking three-bedroom condo, with parking, was a just a short walk from all the action, some of the world’s best surf beaches and the largest shopping malls and had views to die for. It was also priced well compared with similar properties and the (fake) owner was terrific at responding to all our questions. Unfortunately, it was all too good to be true. So where did it all go wrong?
Rule No. 1:
Hindsight is a powerful tool, and despite having my own properties on Airbnb and Stayz, I didn’t think that communicating “off-site” with the owner was particularly unusual. But according to Airbnb’s trust and safety team that was our crucial mistake. Never communicate or pay off-site. That means never communicate outside the Airbnb messaging system and never pay anyone outside the Airbnb payment system.
Rule No. 2:
Always follow rule No. 1! This can save you thousands of dollars and hours of heartache in trying to track down your money through website providers and your bank. Delia Rickard, deputy chair at the ACCC, says: “Most legitimate websites and peer-to-peer platforms such as Airbnb set up secure payment systems where the operator acts as an intermediary between the traveller and property owner. Paying through the platform’s system provides both owners and customers with safeguards such as refunds, cancellation policies and dispute resolution in the event that problems arise.”
In my case, I contacted Airbnb immediately and was told to call my bank, which I did with a sense of urgency, and it attempted to recall the funds from my wire transfer. I honestly thought my money was done for and there was no hope of ever seeing it again. But luckily the good people in the fraud team at Commonwealth Bank were able to reclaim the funds before they settled into the scammer’s account. Hendo was off the hook!
Scammers are getting smarter and more elaborate and are more active in a multitude of areas such as accommodation, betting, dating, domain name registration, false billing and that old favourite, the Nigerian lost money trick. But there are a few simple rules in making online transactions to help you keep your money safe.
To avoid anguish, visit scamwatch.gov. au to keep up to date with the latest scams, and keep an eye out for family members who may not have their wits about them on the web. And stick to the simple rule of not going off-site and you should be fine.