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<\/p>\nA great-grandma was left with just four dollars to her name after a scammer took all her savings. Her bank allegedly refuses to help.<\/p>\n
Marie Marshall, a 66 year old Australian, was looking forward to a peaceful retirement when a cruel phone call saw her life ripped away.<\/p>\n
She said that one afternoon, she got a call \u201cfrom someone who claimed to be from the Commonwealth Bank fraud department\u201d, who \u201cwas able to quote my account numbers and balances\u201d.<\/p>\n
In his con, he told Marshall that \u201cthere were a number of suspicious transactions on my account, and Commonwealth believed my account had been compromised\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to secure my accounts and funds, he said I\u2019d need to open a new CBA account and transfer all my money there,\u201d the grandma said.<\/p>\n
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Speaking to news.com.au, Marshall said the scammer asked her to confirm her identity using an application, saying it was more secure than providing details over the phone as that is \u201cwhat scammers do\u201d.<\/p>\n
But after downloading this app, the scammer had total access to Marshall\u2019s phone and was able to steal all her savings \u2013 $21,000 (USD $13,450.50, \u00a310,547.32) in total.<\/p>\n
While some of the money was able to be recovered after it was put into a Westpac bank account, the majority is still missing. She had just $4 in her purse after the horrific incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea I\u2019d been scammed until two days later,\u201d Marshall explained. \u201cI read a post on Facebook about someone experiencing the exact same scam.<\/p>\n
\u201cI immediately burst into tears and attempted to access my bank account, but was unable to login. I then drove to a nearby ATM, but my pin code didn\u2019t work. I was heartbroken and highly distraught.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Marshall added: \u201cI was so embarrassed, and I felt so stupid that I fell for the scam. I\u2019d always been so careful with money.\u201d<\/p>\n
After calling her daughter Christina to explain what had happened, the pair headed to their closest Commonwealth Bank branch to file a complaint.<\/p>\n
After raising a complaint about what had happened, the bank informed Marie that after completing their investigation, her funds were not recoverable.<\/p>\n
She claims that the bank is now forcing her to pay back all the money the scammer had spent, along with the fees, on her credit card, despite the fact that it has been stolen.<\/p>\n
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Don’t miss… <\/strong> Westpac was able to recover $5,500 (USD $3,522.75, \u00a32,762.39) of the great grandma\u2019s funds, which have been returned to her.<\/p>\n Marshall also said CBA offered her $4490.15 (USD $2,875.94, \u00a32,255.19) as compensation, but stated that $2535 (USD $1,623.67, \u00a31,273.21) of that figure had to be paid back on the credit card.<\/p>\n Since the scam, Marshall has seen her Facebook account hacked with all photos and contacts removed, and she has received up to 10 unsolicited phone calls from unknown numbers every day.<\/p>\n To help her out her son Chris Marshall has started a GoFundMe page. As of writing, $10,741 (USD $6,879.61, \u00a35,394.70) has been raised of her $20,000 (USD $12,810, \u00a310,045.07) target.<\/p>\n Follow our social media accounts here on <\/b>facebook.com\/ExpressUSNews<\/b> and @ExpressUSNews<\/b><\/p>\n
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