Heath West

Heath West

I’m super proud to have been with you guys on the Treasure Coast airwaves for the last twenty five years! I was born, raised, and now live and work...Full Bio

 

Man With Dementia Loses Life Savings To Scammers, Bank Reimburses Him

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Photo: SAEED KHAN / AFP / Getty Images

Back a few months ago, some awful scammers managed to take all of 78-year-old retiree Alex Shaw’s life savings. The Australian man is in the early stages of dementia and, like so many, fell prey to scammers from Thailand. The scam was similar to those we've heard before, where the thieves convinced Alex to give them access to his bank account and they made several large withdrawals. After a few of those withdrawals, ANZ Bank’s fraud department blocked his account.

But the scammers were not done. They actually coached Alex to call the bank and have his account reactivated. Then, of course, they cleaned out the rest of his money.

Mr. Shaw was eventually robbed of over $460,000 Australian (which is almost $300,000 U.S.). Alex’s son Victor soon became aware of the scam and went to the ANZ bank to see what they might be able do to help his father. Victor knew it was unlikely that the bank would be able to do anything, but he provided the bank with the meticulous notes Alex had been keeping throughout the scam.

Unbelievably, just three months later, ANZ Bank reached out to the Shaw family to let them know they were going to restore the stolen money.

“Following our review of this matter… ANZ recognizes that it could have done more to support Mr. Shaw given his history with scams,” the bank writes. “Considering Mr. Shaw’s vulnerability and the impact the scam has had on him, we will reimburse the scam transactions…”

And with that, the bank fully restored all of the money stolen from Alex. His son is amazed at the bank’s compassion and has never heard of a bank taking such responsibility.

The bank is using this event to warn families who have loved ones experiencing memory loss to take steps to protect them and their assets.

Read more HERE.


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