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Buyer nearly loses $1.2m after fake settlement email
A young mother was nearly wiped out of $1.2 million in a settlement redirection scam, with a single extra letter in the email address standing between buying a property and losing everything.
A Western Australian Westpac banker has stopped a $1.2 million transfer to a sophisticated payment redirection scam, in which only an extra letter in the email address showed the fake message.
The customer, a young mother buying her first property, was preparing for settlement when she visited Westpac’s Riverton branch to make the transfer after receiving an email.
After viewing the email, the customer’s personal banker Neet Kukreja sensed something was off as the urgency of the request did not match earlier conversations.
“The tone [of this email] was slightly different. It didn’t read like the previous emails, and that made me pause,” Kukreja said.
“The email asked her to transfer funds into a settlement account, which didn’t line up with how these payments usually work.”
Instead of processing the transfer, Kukreja cross-checked previous communication and found that the staff member named in the reply was on leave.
Additionally, the sender’s email address had one extra letter that couldn’t be seen at first glance.
The banker then took time to contact the customer, the branch manager, and the settlement agent, who confirmed no formal request for payment had been made.
It was then uncovered that the agent’s email account had been hacked, allowing scammers to send incredibly convincing but fake payment instructions to force the transfer urgently.
Kukreja said that in this specific instance, knowing the customer and her circumstances made it easier to spot when something did not add up.
“This was everything she had, her savings plus a loan... losing that money would have been devastating.
“When you’re dealing with someone’s life savings, you can’t afford to ignore that gut feeling,” Kukreja said.
Property settlements scam on the rise
According to Westpac, property-related scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and timed wisely.
The bank said that fraudsters impersonated conveyancers, solicitors, or agents, targeting contract exchanges and settlement periods when buyers are under pressure to move large sums of money.
Westpac’s head of fraud prevention, Ben Young, urged buyers to slow down and verify each detail before transferring funds, especially when asked through email.
“Buying a property is one of the biggest financial decisions most people will ever make, and unfortunately scammers will try to take advantage of that.
“A quick phone call can make all the difference and help prevent life-changing losses,” Young said.
Last year, data from the National Anti‑Scam Centre showed Australians lost $166.8 million to payment redirection scams.
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