‘Every dollar we had was gone; we didn't realise that it could happen to us’

“To be drained of our funds means that we can no longer pay our bills, we can't pay our own mortgages,” said Adelaide mum Justine.

An Adelaide mother has issued a stark warning after thousands of dollars were mysteriously taken out of her bank account.

Justine, a small business owner and mum-of-four, was examining her ANZ bank account when she made a horrifying realisation. 

She had only $1.71 in her bank account, and all the savings she earned had been drained.

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Justine was shocked when she checked her bank account. Picture: Daily Mail Australia

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“Every dollar, gone. We didn't realise that it could happen,” she told Daily Mail Australia.

“It's been devastating, to be honest.” 

The app showed 10 unusual withdrawals from her account, each for $1,250, meaning more than $10,000 had been taken from her savings. 

The Adelaide mother was horrified after realising she had likely been hacked on Facebook, where they gained access to her personal details and bank account.

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To make matters worse, she had been given no notification about suspicious activity on her account despite having two-factor authentication activated. 

She was also mindful of clicking on suspicious or unknown links, so she was completely baffled. 

“'I honestly have no idea how it's happened,” she said. 

Nevertheless, the hackers had managed to surpass all security clearances and gained access to her account, funnelling her cash into advertising their own businesses on Facebook. 

“They've been setting up lots of ads to advertise their own business, and that's how the money was spent,” she said. 

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Her money was stripped from her account. Picture: Daily Mail Australia

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The Adelaide mum, who runs a small business Pip & Lemmy, said she and her husband rely on the money to keep afloat.

Without these funds, they said, the family may be forced to take drastic measures. 

“This business is our livelihood,” Justine said. 

“We've got four children each, so eight kids between us, and we work on it endlessly day in, day out.”

The scammers have caused a “devastating blow” to the family’s business.

“To be drained of our funds means that we can no longer get stock to our shop, we can't pay our bills, we can't pay our own mortgages, because ultimately that's where we get paid from,” she said. 

Justine, who has been in contact with the team at Meta (the company that owns Facebook) and ANZ, said she was trying her best to recover the stolen money.

“A follower gave us a direct email for someone who works at Facebook and she's been amazing,” she said, adding the team has managed to track down the hacker and their email address.

The team at ANZ have also informed Justine they would launch an invetsgiation into the fraudulent acts. 

“We are really keeping everything crossed that we will get the money back,” she said. 

To help keep scammers at bay, Justine recommends activating two-factor authentication and using different passwords for your separate accounts, being sure to change them regularly.

Originally published as ‘Every dollar we had was gone; we didn't realise that it could happen to us’