Suspected Phishing Scam makes a bank move more mysteriously than fraudsters!
Photo by: DerrickT
A bank, overzealous in its efforts to prevent crime, might have shown pluck and initiative where probably neither was required. It all started on 21st May when the ABS Bank notified Sarah-Lee Ryan of Hamilton, New Zealand, that her account with the bank was frozen as they had noticed a suspicious transaction there.
According to the bank, somebody had transferred $500,000 to her account. This was enough for them, apparently, to derive that Sarah-Lee Ryan was part of a money laundering scam. Sarah-Lee was given a visit by the bank’s fraud investigating officer and submitted to an interrogation that made her feel like junk.
The incident must have shaken up Ryan. She revealed during the interrogation that earlier on in the day she had received an email from a jobsite asking her to confirm her identification in order to be told of some new openings available there. Among other things she had also given away her bank account details in a reply. It struck her then that the email and the unwanted money-transfer might be related. Someone wished to have her as a conduit to traffic illegal funds, she innocently concluded.
Three days later, the bank gave the issue a rethink and restored her access to the account. They now claimed the amount deposited in her account was more like $2000 than $500,000.
This made Ms.Ryan to go to her ATM and print out an account statement to have a look. She found no trace of the incriminating credit on it.
Ms. Ryan was livid. She swore she was going to dump her bank and never ever have anything to do with ABS Bank again. Her reaction was understandable.
The terrible three days she spent on the dock until the bank gathered its wits will haunt her for some time.
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