Australian Home Buyer Loses $275,000 to Invoice Scam 😧

Why Property Transaction Are Perfect Targets For Scammers 💰

In the journey of life, the purchase of one's own home often stands out as a significant milestone. It's a momentous occasion where dreams are fulfilled, and financial commitments take center stage. These special and emotional transactions are infrequent and likely the most substantial ones made in a person's lifetime – thus making it a prime target for fraudsters.

How It Happens ⚠️

Mr. Elvin's and his wife, like many other Australians, spent a decade saving up for their first home in the Blue Mountains, NSW. They received an email requesting settlement from what appeared to be their conveyancer. With the details matching their conveyancer, like BSB and account name the request to finalize the upcoming settlement of $274,311 seemed to be above board.

‘It all looked fine. So I paid it in two amounts, because the amount was too large to do in one go,' Mr. Elvin said.

However the email they received was not from their conveyancer, rather someone doing a very good job of impersonating them. With the only variation being a account number it’s quite easy to see how the average person can be deceived and in the blink of an eye lose their life savings.

What Can Be Done?

Where the customer is likely an infrequent purchaser like Mr. Elvin's, we believe the duty of care lies with the service provider. They need to set the ground rules for and provide guidance for how exactly these transactions will play out and the steps to follow. Most importantly would be to ensure that before any payment is complete, confirmation via a secondary channel is completed, such as a phone call.

It is much the same for protecting transactions and relationships in the B2B space. Where the outdated email that lacks robust security is the primary delivery point for invoices, it is crucial to ensure that secondary confirmation is completed.

An Alternative Future 🔮

GOTI is building a secure ecosystem for all transactions and invoices leveraging Pay ID to facilitate secure and fast payments. Where customers have confidence that when an invoice or payment request appears, it is without a doubt from their goods or service provider. By setting GOTI as the hub for all transactions and onboarding customers with clear instructions to only engage with information via the GOTI network, it saves time and protects all parties involved.

Protect Any Transaction - Join The Goti Ecosystem