As many as five customers from Kyabram have had accounts drained of cash.
A message is being sent to Commonwealth Bank customers’ phones stating that their PayPal account had been accessed.
It says to contact a 1800 number immediately to stop the transactions.
Kylie McMahon was at work at the time when she dialled the number and the fraudsters got into her internet banking using personal identification codes to drain her accounts.
“Unbeknown to me they were actually authorising the transactions,” she said.
They had all her card details, home address, phone number and identification.
“They cleaned out both my bank accounts — I rang the Commonwealth Bank, where the fraud team put a red alert on my account,” she said.
Ms McMahon said she went to the Kyabram branch, where they said whoever approved it had all her identification.
“The Commonwealth Bank can’t do anything apparently, as the transactions are still pending,” she said.
“But at the same time I’ve been charged international account fees on that account even though the bank knows both accounts have been hacked into and there is an investigation.”
She said while at the branch she talked to numerous other customers that were there for the same reason.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also has a list of guidelines to help people protect themselves from scams. It recommends the following:
• Do not click on any links or open attachments from emails claiming to be from your bank or another trusted organisation and asking you to update or verify your details – just press delete.
• Do an internet search for any references to a similar scam.
• Look for the secure symbol on the website to know if it’s secure.
• Never provide your personal, credit card or online account details if you receive a call claiming to be from your bank or any other organisation. Instead, call your bank to check.
• If you think you have provided your account details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.
• Report scams to the ACCC via the ‘report a scam’ page to help spread awareness.