Highlights
- Fraudsters steal $10000 from superannuation account
- Hitesh Arora warns community of a sophisticated scam
- Fancy gadgets ordered, JobKeeper requested and super withdrawn on stolen identity
Mr Arora was stood down during COVID-19 shutdown but was recently called back to resume work by his employer.
He thought his COVID-related stress was over but this young migrant from India received a rude shock on Monday evening when he learnt $10,000 were withdrawn from his superannuation account.
“It all started on the 15th [October]. I received a message from Optus that my order had been placed. I thought it was spam so didn’t bother. Then a few hours later, I received a message asking feedback for the customer service call. I had not spoken to anybody from Optus so I felt something is definitely not right and called Optus,” he told SBS Hindi.
Hitesh Arora shares how his $10,000 were stolen from his super
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‘I had no clue the money was withdrawn’: Scammers steal $10000 from a migrant’s superannuation account
SBS Hindi
07:26
Mr Arora then called Optus and discovered his email address, the phone number details had been changed by someone and an order was placed for an iPhone, iPad and a smartwatch.
“I told Optus it was not me and asked them to cancel the order and they took my complaint and assured me it was sorted,” he says.
But in the hindsight, he feels that was the beginning of the scam that was to occur.
On Monday, Mr Arora received a call from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
“At first I thought it was a scam but the officer assured me that he had called to verify certain transactions requested by me. That was another shock. I had not logged into my ATO account in weeks and I had made no requests,” he says.
The ATO officer informed Mr Arora that his account had made requests for GST returns worth $8000, his status had been changed from an employee to employer and there was a request put in to seek JobKeeper payment.
“I told the officer that was definitely not me and he said my account had been compromised. Thereafter he locked my account and initiated an inquiry,” Mr Arora says.
“But later in the evening, the officer called again and asked me to check my superannuation account. He said ATO had received a request to withdraw $10,000 from the superannuation account as part of COVID-relief measures and it had been approved. He asked me to check if the money had been withdrawn. I logged into my super account and saw $10,000 had been withdrawn,” he says.
Since then, Mr Arora has spent stressful hours between making a police complaint, contacting his bank to cancel his cards and liaising with the ATO.
“I have also made a complaint to the cybersecurity cell,” he says.
Mr Arora says he was surprised that the scammers could get into his ATO and super account.
“I am surprised at the level of sophistication of the scam. I have spoken to no one and yet my identity was stolen to withdraw my hard-earned money. Generally, you receive a code to log in to your ATO account. I received nothing.
"I am grateful to the police and the ATO who are helping me with the matter. I hope my money is returned soon,” he says.
Mr Arora says the authorities have advised him to change the passwords of his online accounts and choose passwords which are hard to guess.
“I want people to be alert to such scams. It is hard-earned money. It could have been anyone,” he says.
Scammers targeting superannuation in COVID-19 crisis
Scamwatch has warned scammers are taking advantage of the Government’s announcement that people suffering financial hardship can have partial access to their superannuation.
In most cases, the scammers are seeking to obtain personal information, including information that will help them fraudulently access the victim’s superannuation funds.
“While older people are more commonly affected by superannuation scams, the new early-access scheme means a range of age groups are now experiencing these scams,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
In 2019, Australians lost over $6 million to superannuation scams.
Any suspicious behaviour relating to superannuation can be reported to ASIC through its .
You can also contact , a free Government-supported service which will work with you to develop a specific response plan to your situation and support you through the process.
More information on scams is available on the , including how to and where to .
Information about how to protect your identity and what to do if you think someone has misused your identity is also available on the ATO website at
