Mia went on to transfer money into an account Becky provided details for, but Mia’s bank refused to make the transfer request, warning it was likely an investment scam. Undeterred, Becky then asked Mia to instead send money through one of the big money transfer companies.
If challenged by staff, Mia was to say she was sending money to a family member overseas, said Becky. She was not to mention anything about the ‘investment opportunity’ she thought she was pursuing.
After transferring funds, the scammer told the Mia she had already made a substantial return on the initial investment. Further requests and more insistent demands were made for Mia to transfer more money, so that more ‘profits’ could be realised.
The scammer became more threatening and aggressive when Mia questioned her motives and threatened to report Mia to Inland Revenue Department if she didn’t keep transferring money.
Things kept getting worse for Mia, who took out personal loans to continue making payments. The scammer coached her to say the loans were needed for a car, or curtains for her home, and later even suggested Mia steal money to help prop up her “investments”.
Despite the money she’d already paid, the pressure came on Mia to come up with even more money if she wanted her investment paid out. It was then that Mia reached out to an old friend, calling her and asking for $30,000 to pay into the ‘investment’. Her friend smelled a rat and told Mia that she might be the victim of a scam – and it was time to go straight to the police.
After telling the police, notifying the FMA and cutting off all contact with the scammer, Mia is now $41,000 out of pocket, sadly with no prospect of getting her money back. She’s also had to get a new drivers’ license after earlier sending a photo to “Becky”.
We still don’t – and probably never will – know for sure who “Becky” really was or even where they lived. But we do know that she manipulated and tricked a young mum who deserved better.
