'Absolutely gutted' PayPal user's $5,000 life savings stolen in a flash just after learning she has cancer | 3E8FMQ2 | 2024-04-30 05:08:01
THOUSANDS were stolen from a woman's life savings soon after learning that her cancer was terminal.
Carolyn Coster, 58, had been battling breast cancer and was told in December that it had metastasized to her bones and was at stage four.
She had lost roughly 55lbs – or 25kgs – and was deemed too vulnerable to handle chemotherapy.
After returning to her home in Traralgon, Australia just a few days before Christmas, Coster said a man claiming to be from PayPal called to tell her that her account had been compromised.
Coster dismissed him at first but the man kept calling her.
"He kept going for six hours…just harassing her and telling her he had all sorts of documentation and proof," said Coster's friend, Marg Thomson.
Thomson spoke with 7News on Coster's behalf.
"Every question she asked of him he had an answer for, so he really just wore her down."
The man called the next day, claiming he needed access to Coster's account.
By this point, Coster was exhausted and gave the man her banking information, hoping that he would leave her alone.
"By this time she's devastated, and she's just been given the news that she's dying … she's weak, extremely fragile, and completely on her own with no one to take care of her," said Thomson.
"Then this guy just keeps harassing her and talking over the top of her and giving her a really hard time."
Coster later checked her account and saw that $5,000 had been taken from her savings.
"She felt so ashamed … she was absolutely gutted," said Thomson.
"She didn't even want to tell me any of this when I spoke with her, I had to pry it all out of her."
Coster had recently signed a lease for a new home and was afraid she would lose the contract since she had no money to cover rent.
She reached out to Bendigo Bank, who told her it would take four to six weeks for the issue to be solved.
However, the bank later said there are plans to fully reimburse Coster.
"Bendigo Bank takes cybersecurity very seriously, protecting our customers and safeguarding our systems with a variety of cyber-crime prevention methods," the bank told 7news.
"The bank has tightened transaction rules blocking high-risk payments to cryptocurrency exchanges, removed all links from SMS messages and doubled the size of its fraud prevention and response team and last financial year, Bendigo Bank stopped $38.6 million in fraudulent transactions or about $105,000 per day."
Coster and Thomson hope their story will warn others.
"These guys are really good at what they do," said Thomson.
"And when somebody is extremely vulnerable and somebody is hammering them, it's just easier to give in and to just accept that these people who are screaming at you could be right.
"They are just really horrible, horrible, horrible people…oh I have so many words I could use to describe these people."
A GoFundMe was organized to help Coster after the scam.
According to the fundraiser, Coster's original plan with her lifesaving was to move "to a small cottage in peaceful surroundings where she could live out the remainder of her life in tranquility."
The fundraiser has managed to raise more than $2,810 out of a $3,000 goal.
More >> https://ift.tt/50uIRGV Source: MAG NEWS