CBA releases Isaac’s funds after suspected scam
Isaac transferred funds to Julie so that they could pay the deposit for their new home. Unfortunately, the bank identified his transaction as a potential scam. Isaac explained to the bank that the transaction was not fraudulent however that didn't seem to help. Looking for a solution, Isaac found Ajust’s resolution platform. After just 1 day, Isaac’s funds were released and he was able to finalise the deposit for his new home.
Money transferred for house deposit
Isaac has heard too many horror stories about scams these past few years, so he is very careful about making sure that his funds transfers go to the right place. For better or for worse, banks are even more sensitive to potential fraudulent transactions and scams.
For many years, Isaac has lived with his brother, Irtan, and sister-in-law, Julie. They are a tight-knit family and enjoy spending time together.
They recently decided it was time to buy a larger property. They were hoping for more living space, an extra bedroom for guests and a big garden - they enjoy gardening and are in need of a new challenge to keep them busy in their retirement.
As a pensioner, Isaac recognised the significant undertaking of financing a new property - as he says, “money doesn’t grow on trees!”
They spent 2 months looking at property, attending inspections and bidding at auctions. Auctions are Isaac’s least favourite part of property hunting - he is a self-confessed introvert and really doesn’t like confrontation.
Sure enough, they found the perfect property and were able to avoid the auction by negotiating with the agent privately.
As typically happens with property purchases, large sums of money had to be moved around to fund the deposit.
After they exchanged contracts on the property, Isaac set about transferring his share of the deposit to Julie. Once he had triple checked to make sure the transfer details were correct, he processed the transfer of $29,950 to Julie.
Funds held due to suspected scam
Isaac had transferred Julie $29,950 to cover his share of the deposit for their new property. They were so excited to move in - whilst there was a lot of work to do, they already had a lot of great ideas for the garden.
Both Isaac and Julie were eagerly awaiting the transfer so that they could finalise the purchase of their new home. After the second day passed and there was still no sign of the money in Julie’s account, Isaac was worried that he’d made a mistake with the transfer. He checked the details again to make sure they were correct - he was relieved to see that everything was indeed right.
Isaac thought it was sensible to contact CBA to see whether they could offer any insight into the progress of the transfer. When Isaac phoned the bank, the representative advised him that the funds had been flagged as potential fraud and that a formal investigation was taking place.
Shocked, Isaac explained his situation to the representative and assured them that the transaction was legitimate. He also requested that they prioritise the release as the funds were required urgently for the deposit for his new property.
Whilst Isaac was grateful that the bank had processes in place to protect customers like him from scams, he felt as though he’d been unfairly caught up in the bank's process. He felt restricted and as though he wasn’t being heard.
After the call ended, Isaac didn’t feel any closer to a solution. He decided to do some research in the hope that he’d find out how he could fix his issue. Not long after he started his research, Isaac came across an online forum where he learned about Ajust’s resolution platform.
A scam is “when someone deceives you into providing personal or financial information so they can steal from you”.
Scams are unfortunately becoming more common and in a lot of cases, more believable.
The Australian government has created a free resource called Scam Watch to help people protect against and report scams.
Here are some steps you can take you prevent yourself against scams:
- Stop – don’t transfer funds or share personal information with anyone if you are unsure
- Think – ask yourself if the message or call could be fake
- Protect – act quickly if something doesn’t feel right
Money released, deposit paid
Having used Ajust’s resolution platform for the first time, Isaac was very impressed by the way that his complaint was summarised. He crossed his fingers and hoped that his issue would be attended to quickly by the bank so that there was no further hold up to the house purchase.
The next day, Isaac received a call from the bank. The customer service representative explained to Isaac that they’d received his complaint and looked into the issue as a priority. They acknowledged that his transfer was in fact legitimate and released the funds.
Feeling relieved, Isaac contacted Julie and sure enough, the funds were now available in her account - they could now pay the deposit to finalise the purchase of their new home.
The team at Ajust always enjoy hearing about the impact our platform is having on the lives of real people. Thanks Isaac and good luck with the move!
Editor’s note: We’re always excited to share the experiences of consumers that have used Ajust. This Consumer Story is based on a real complaint made through our platform. But we’ve changed some details to protect the consumer's personal information and make the story more enjoyable for our readers.
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