A new scam against Melbourne taxi drivers has been exposed.
A taxi driver revealed how he was targeted. On Monday, he took a passenger from Richmond to St Kilda, where he could have earned $35, but lost $450.
Srijan said a handsome British man and his girlfriend jumped into his taxi for 16 minutes.
When the taxi arrived at its destination, the man noticed that he had neither cash nor credit cards with him, and his girlfriend was empty-handed.
He told the driver that he would use ANZ's app to transfer the money to his bank account because the driver was so nice that he would pay 50 yuan instead of 35 yuan.
"I provided my BSB and account number, and he told me he was going to transfer 50 yuan," Srijan said. But his passengers soon looked worried, saying he accidentally added an extra 0 and deposited $500 in the driver's account.
"he was very sure and asked me to confirm the account," Srijan said. So I logged in to my account, and I could see that 500 yuan was actually deposited into my account, and I could use the money right away. That's not a problem. "
He pulled the two men to the place where they had the ATM and took out 450 yuan to pay them back, and then they got out of the car.
But soon after, the $500 originally deposited into the Srijan account disappeared. He was shocked and called another taxi driver, who said he had the same experience.
Srijan's wife immediately contacted ANZ Bank, which advised them to call the police and said the bank was investigating.
And the scam is really simple.
Experts say it is similar to an empty check, which shows that money is paid because the other party does transfer the money. But divesters are likely to contact their banks again, claiming that the money was improperly deposited in the bank and formally protesting.
Asha Rao, a cyber security expert and a professor at the Royal Melbourne University of Technology, said the scam had "many layers."
"I'm not sure he's using his own phone or a passenger's phone," Rao said. "but if he doesn't use his own phone, it's easy to fake."
Without a record of deposits and withdrawals, the money could be transferred. Moreover, without a transaction record, it may be harder for the victim to recover the money.