Peter Smith*, preparing to settle on a property purchase, received an email from his trusted conveyancer with payment instructions for $1.2 million. Believing it to be legitimate, he didn’t think twice about transferring the funds.
However, Diane Zhou, a private wealth banker at Westpac, intervened just in time.
Concerned about the transaction, she contacted the conveyancer directly to verify the payment details.
“When I spoke with the conveyancer, I was shocked to learn that she had never sent the client an email with payment instructions, and the bank account details provided in the email were not hers,” Zhou said.
Further investigation revealed the conveyancer’s email system had been compromised, with fraudulent emails targeting multiple clients.
Payment redirection scams, also known as business email compromise, are among the hardest to detect. Scammers intercept legitimate emails and replace payment details with their own account numbers.
“There might be nothing in the email or invoice to alert you that this is a scam, and it’s usually a bill that you expected to pay,” said Ben Young (pictured above), Westpac’s head of fraud prevention.
While payment redirection scams rank fifth in prevalence, they account for the second-highest losses, with victims losing an average of $27,500 per incident, according to Westpac data.
Westpac has introduced Westpac Verify, a tool launched in June, which cross-checks payee details for mismatches before payments are processed. This initiative has led to a 20% reduction in payment redirection scams over the past year, with over 400 fraudulent transactions prevented daily.
“Always verify banking details over the phone using a number you’ve sourced yourself. PayID is another safeguard, as it displays the registered payee name,” Young said.
To combat rising fraud, Westpac, which recently announced plans to strengthen its scam prevention measures by adding 50 new team members to its fraud and scam operations team and introducing a digital reporting feature for scams, fraud, or mistaken payments, has launched an awareness campaign.
Business owners are encouraged to join a webinar on Dec. 4, led by Young, to learn more about protecting against scams.
Registration details are available on Westpac’s website.
For additional insights, watch Young’s Scam Spot video and learn how to spot compromised billers.
*Name has been changed for privacy.
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