The tech-savvy commentator and former Computerworld journalist told his Twitter followers late on Thursday: “Just had the worst two hours of my life. Got convincingly scammed, locked out of our bank accounts, and more, crucially, Mum’s.
“They’d started on ours – consolidating all the money into one account – by the time I twigged and changed the passwords. But I couldn’t change Mum’s.
“Because the attached phone number was hers, and she’s seriously ill in hospital. Nurses wouldn’t let us access Mum’s phone, Police couldn’t help – and Westpac’s fraud line is slammed and took an hour to call back.
He added: “Sorted now, with only the hassle of changing everything and waiting for new cards. I called an 0800 number from a text message saying there’d been an authorisation of the mobile app on a new device, spoke to a very smooth English-accented man, missed lots of warning signs, partly because I was pretty strung out from a difficult hospital visit.”
Brown, who said he had done malware scans on his computer, promised more details this morning. Last night, he signed off: “Don’t be a dummy like me, because I wouldn’t wish how I felt this evening on my worst enemy.”
Experts say if you’re in any doubt about an apparent communication from your bank - or any other service provider - you should phone it using a number sourced from its website, or that you’re otherwise confident is correct, not a number included in a text message.
But a key pain point with Brown’s experience was the time it took to make contact with Westpac. The New Zealand Herald has asked the bank for comment.
