A 92-year-old woman says she was left with just $2 to her name after a scammer posing as a tradie drained her of her life savings.
Last February, Cecily said a man claiming to be a tradesman doing odd jobs knocked on her door offering his services to "fill his fridge".
"He offered to clean my gutterings out and just check the roof for some growing moss," she told Seven Sharp's Hilary Barry. "I said, 'Oh yes, go ahead. No problem'."
She agreed to pay him $200 for his work.
The pensioner said she was then told the scammer's car had broken down and he needed $800 to fix it.
"It was all a big lie."
She said the lies "kept going until I had $2 left".
In total, Cecily lost $10,000 – her entire life savings. "That’s it – he’s drained me dry. He’s gone."
Cecily said she had wanted to help him because he appeared to be down on his luck but "was so nice, sounded so caring and that – all promises, he’d pay me back”.
When she realised the money was gone, Cecily said she felt "so ashamed of myself”.
"I just felt… I got sucked in."
The scammer was sent to prison over the incident.
After her ordeal, Cecily’s daughter Wendy was put in charge of her bank account.
"That’s been really tough, you know? Just emotionally – knowing that somebody just took that money," Wendy said.
"Why does he think he’s so entitled that he can just come and more or less groom [victims], get their trust, and then take all their life savings?"
How to keep you and your loved ones safe
Age Concern’s Karen Billings-Jensen said Cecily’s case was "really awful".
"It just is such an awful example of really predatory and targeted behaviour. This was planned – this wasn’t opportunist and I think that’s what makes it seem so awful."
Billings-Jensen said that when an older person is scammed, "there’s a shorter runway for someone on a fixed income to really bounce back financially".
"For older people, the impact is really bad."
So, what are the tell-tale signs people can watch out for?
"Scammers have a sense of urgency," Billings-Jensen explained. "They will try and rush people to make decisions and not seek help or talk to someone. Things like 'you must do this now', 'if you don’t act, you’re at risk'."
People looking to protect themselves or older people could reach out to groups offering digital and financial literacy programmes "that just help people to be a bit more aware", Billings-Jensen said.
Two-factor authentication on access to accounts could also be set up for extra security.
"But normally, it’s just making sure that we can be open and feel comfortable knowing that we’ve got people that we seek advice from, whatever age we are."
Signs a person had been a victim of a scam were becoming withdrawn or changing their behaviour around handling money.
"Staying connected, being able to talk to people in your community and your family, with your friends, is what just helps break down some of the stigma."
Billings-Jensen said the first step for anyone who thought they’ve been scammed was to get in touch with their bank, which could talk you through the next steps in the process.
"Contact your bank if you think that your financial wellbeing has been compromised."
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