BOQ Palm Beach manager Trent Williams reveals cruel tricks scammers use to target elderly

The manager of a busy Gold Coast bank has revealed the danger signs to look out for amid a shocking surge in financial scams.

THE manager of a busy Gold Coast bank has urged customers to be on high alert for unusual transactions amid a surge in financial scams.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says Australians lost more than $2bn to scammers last year.

Investment, payment redirection and romance scams were the top three culprits, while the worst affected age group was people aged 65 and over.

In the past six months the Bulletin has reported:

* How a Gold Coast couple lost almost $40,000 to a “cunning” email scammer.

* Several Pimpama families were scammed out of thousands in rental money.

* Radio personality Mel Greig lost $1000 to a “Tinder swindler”.

Bank of Queensland Palm Beach manager Trent Williams has told the public to be mindful of unusual transactions. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Bank of Queensland Palm Beach manager Trent Williams said losses from people misusing power of attorney privileges was also a major concern.

“BOQ has a significant number of older customers, meaning the need for a greater level of awareness around financial elder abuse in the community cannot be underestimated,” he said.

“Frighteningly, it is far more common than we may think; particularly for those who are dependent on others for daily things like shopping or paying bills.

“... We’ve had cases where people who have acted as enduring power of attorney for family members have used the privilege to meet their own personal needs.

“... You feel very sorry for them, especially if it is a family member that has taken advantage of the situation.

“When they’re in a really vulnerable position, with an illness like dementia, your whole life savings you’re entrusting with someone to act on responsible grounds and if they’re abusing that privilege that is heartbreaking.”

Mr Williams said one such case involved about $100,000 being drained from a customer’s account.

“It was an accumulation of a lot of spending over two to three years,” he said. “We’re talking house insurance, car insurance, a new kitchen and so on.”

Mr Williams said elderly customers were also increasingly being targeted by phone and email scams designed to trick them into giving away details that let fraudsters access their accounts.

“As the generations are ageing, a lot more people are vulnerable to getting contacted through different forms of channels that they’re not used to. So they’re unsure whether this is real or is it not real.

“They get random calls to say you need to update your internet banking and your passwords. They get asked to provide account details over the phone or verify their pin. That’s something that at BOQ we would never do.

Trent Williams says elderly who are being contacted by strangers about personal information should seek help from their bank. Picture: Glenn Hampson

“There’s protection there in the systems,” he said. “There’s processes and systems there to protect the account holder if there’s any unusual activity going on in their account.

“But double check, triple check (transactions). Seek guidance from family.

“And as always, come into the branch. Never update your details over an app or online through an email, always via phone or come into the branch to do that because otherwise your identity can be compromised through those other means.”

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