Mental health concerns for couple who lost $90k after media campaign backfires

Family and friends have made startling admissions about the couple who lost $90k in a bizarre transaction that Commonwealth Bank can’t trace.

Family and friends have raised concerns about the mental health of a couple who claim to have lost their life savings in a complicated financial fraud.

Ellie Houston, 21, and her partner Trae Murphy, 23, have claimed that $90,000 disappeared from their Commonwealth Bank account when they attempted to pay a deposit on land in Yarrawonga, a small country town near the NSW and Victoria border.

After raising their case in the media following their failure to resolve it with CBA, Mr Murphy’s parents and friends said the couple are now in hiding, with Mr Murphy unable to get out of bed due to the stress and anxiety of the situation.

“To have money and then all of a sudden it’s gone missing. From what it seems, he’s been scammed somehow,” his mum told The Daily Mail.

“And to think that people now think that he’s the one lying. It’s devastating.”

“He’s not in a good place … and now it’s turned negative,” a friend said.

A source said the couple engaged with the media on the advice of a lawyer.

“They wanted to get things rolling and they did. And they’ve got more information this week than they’ve had in the last two months. And it’s helped them understand that they’ve been scammed.”

Ellie Houston, 21, and her partner Trae Murphy, 23, have claimed that $90,000 disappeared from their Commonwealth Bank account when they attempted to pay a deposit on land in Yarrawonga. Picture: Facebook

The latest development follows the public turning on the couple, with theories swirling about what may have happened to the missing money.

One friend poured water on the idea that Mr Murphy may have lost the sum gambling.

“Who in their right mind would drop $96,000 on a horse? It’s ridiculous,” the friend is reported to have said.

The couple are still in the dark about what happened to the money and it’s hoped the Australian Financial Complaints Authority may be able to soon provide an answer.

“Commonwealth has said once it went into the account he wanted it into, it has been transferred into someone else’s account by a name he doesn’t even know,” a source said.

But the bank said there was never any trace of the money — with the institution claiming the couple never had the money to begin with and the receipts and account numbers didn’t match up.

CBA has previously said that “the account in question (or any other account held by Mr Murphy) did not have a balance of $96,000 (or an amount close to it) at the time of the relevant transfers or the 12 months prior.”

A letter from Commonwealth Bank states that the account balance has been at $0.75 since late June. Picture: Seven

Ms Houston claimed in an interview with 3AW that she had screenshots and receipts tracking the money between the accounts, and that they could see the money while they were in Bali in July.

A CBA spokesperson however said that following an investigation, the couple were informed the receipt numbers they provided did “not exist in CBA records”.

“On examination of the images of the receipts provided, the documents appear to​ differ from genuine CBA receipts and the receipt numbers do not exist in CBA records,” the statement read.

The bank added its own records did not match the information provided by the couple, including “changes to balances and a receipt for a transaction which cannot be made from a savings account”.

The bank added the account in question was a NetBank Saver, “which only permits transfers to another CBA account and is unable to process transfers to another financial institution”.

Mr Murphy had, according to CBA, complained and asked it to investigate after two failed transfers to the Bank of Melbourne, claiming the balance should have been $96,000.

The bank said it would make further inquiries should it receive additional information from Mr Murphy.

The Commonwealth Bank has said that following an investigation, the couple were informed the receipt numbers they provided did “not exist in CBA records”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short.

Ms Houston told 3AW she and her partner were left with just $0.75 in their CBA bank account after the two failed transfers.

“Our money bounced back into our CBA account because both our names weren’t approved yet on the Bank of Melbourne account,” she said.

She claimed they tried sending the money again on July 4, before jetting to Bali the next day.

Three days later, on July 7, the money bounced back into their Commonwealth Bank account once more.

Being in Bali, she said they weren’t able to settle the land while overseas because the sum of money was too big.

When they returned to Australia on July 20, they went straight into a Commonwealth Bank branch and discovered they only had $0.75 in their account.

“No money in our account, $0.75. They can’t tell us where it’s gone, nothing,” Ms Houston said.

“My partner and I have been together since we were 15 years old, we’ve saved for so long for this land, and our goal was always to pay the land off before we put a house on it, so we could then travel.

“And now everything, everything got taken from under us.”

Family and friends have raised concerns about the mental health of a couple who claim to have lost their life savings in a complicated financial fraud. Picture: Seven.

Ms Houston’s sister, Tori Lancaster, has also lashed out at questioning of the couple’s version of events on a local Facebook group.

She claimed there was no record of the account containing the money because it was deleted swiftly after the large sum was removed.

“It’s as simple as this, the money was in their account as per the transaction records. The money has been taken and the account deleted, gone, can’t see it,” she told the social media critic.

“Which is why their receipts and statements don’t line up with Commonwealth Bank. There has been no foul play and they have been working their a***s off for years.”

Ms Lancaster told the commenter to “pull your head in”.

“Next time it could be your mum, sister or daughter so pull your head in,” Ms Lancaster wrote.