It is estimated that people lose a lot of money from phone scams.
Those over 65, main victims of the telephone scam.
In 2018 there were 9,134 reported cases.
Scams are becoming more common in this highly digitized world in which we live. This is the case that happened to a teenager who told and went viral after saying that she was the victim of a telephone scam where the criminals stole $25,000, the equivalent of 500,000 Mexican pesos.
The damage caused by telephone scams seems endless, so research highlights that almost all victims claim to have proof that this type of scam exists, about 60 percent of those interviewed said they trusted that it would not happen to them .
In 2018, the number of cases of telephone fraud reported was the highest in the last ten years, where almost all the victims of this fraud were over 65 years of age, and the vast majority of them were women. A survey of 334 victims revealed that almost all of them knew that this type of phone scam existed.
The story of the adolescent
A teenager has gone viral after telling that she was scammed out of 25 thousand dollars, in a matter of seconds.
The young woman commented that said money was her savings since she started working at the age of 14. The teenager identified as Aurora Casilli has been dreaming of the day when she would have enough money to buy her own house and that now thanks to her theft that will no longer be possible.
The 18-year-old from Albany, Western Australia even mentioned that she was working three different jobs to help boost her savings account.
It all happened on December 3, when Aurora received an alarming text message that she believed was from her bank, saying that someone with a name she did not recognize was trying to make a transfer from her account.
The message appeared to be from the National Australian Bank as it was from the same number and in the same text message thread as previous legitimate communications from the bank.
According to specialists, this technique is known as identity theft and scammers often use it to appear more legitimate to potential victims.
As the young woman mentioned to local media, the text urged her to call her number if she had not authorized the payment, which the teenager decided to dial because she was in a “state of panic.”
“I was at home, about to make breakfast when the text came through,” she recalled.
Aurora explained that at the time, nothing seemed “weird.” The text appeared to be from NAB, and when she dialed the phone number for help, she claims the music and voice prompts were identical to when she called her bank in the past.
She even waited an hour on hold to speak to someone, which she says only added to the perceived legitimacy of the call.
Aurora was then greeted by what she describes as a “professional and polite” man with a British accent, who explained that someone had gained access to her bank account.
For her financial security, she was told to transfer all of her savings to another account NAB to her name, which the man was supposedly setting up for her over the phone.
Aurora believed him and promptly sent over $25,158.88 from her life savings.
Seconds after confirming the transfer, the man hung up. After that he realized that she had been scammed.
The case was then turned over to authorities, where NAB fraud and group investigations executive Chris Sheehan said the bank could not comment on individual cases, but stressed the importance of staying vigilant and on guard against fraudsters.
“We have seen a significant increase in scams in recent years and it is upsetting to see the devastating effects they can have,” he said in a statement.
This is not the first story of phone scams that has been recorded, since thousands of people are victims of these criminals every day.
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