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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
In the same way.Some scammers are targeting vulnerable Australians — people who don't even know they've put money into the platform.At just 25, Melanie Chapman was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.Melanie was cold called from someone claiming to be from her bank. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito )Now more than 20 years later, she lives a full and independent life, but accepts her mind isn't quite what it used to be.Earlier this year a man who called himself Peter and claimed he was from her bank, said there had been a security breach on her bank account and needed access to help her fix it. Mel's recollection of the period is hazy, but she said she spoke to the man several times over the course of a few weeks.She then realised some of her savings had disappeared from a bank account she rarely accessed. She called her younger brother Sean, her power of attorney, asking for help.Melanie's brother Sean tried to find out what was going on. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito )"[I felt] completely overwhelmed," she said.Her brother immediately brought up his sister's bank statements and saw a number of curious transactions.A $50,000 inheritance from her late mother was gone. Sean went through her emails and worked out that a cryptocurrency account through Australian-owned company CoinSpot had been established in Mel's name. CoinSpot is Australia's biggest cryptocurrency exchange and gives users access to more than 320 different digital currencies.Melanie lost just over $41,000 in the scam. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)The scammers used the CoinSpot account to withdraw Mel's savings from several accounts she held with the same bank. "[There were] eight days in a row of them transferring out the $8,000 [just] before midnight, every single night."Sean had an IT expert examine Mel's accounts and worked out what had happened. "The scammer
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