Family conned out of $1.1 million in house sale
Image: 9News
A family from Sydney’s Northern Beaches are pleading with Australians to be aware of the kind of scam they fell victim to – with more than a million dollars at risk.
The family have come close to losing their life savings and dream house in a sophisticated dupe. Cassie and Dennis Aviles transferred over $1.1 million to a person they fully believed was their solicitor in order to finalise the purchase of a new house.
"It's basically everything," Ms Aviles said.
"I've gone to the branch and transferred all of our money [into what] they are now telling us is in some kind of scam account and they're not sure if they're going to be able to retrieve it for us," she said.
The couple, who have three young children, had sold their Beacon Hill property and were due to complete settlement on the new house.
That's when they received what appeared to be a legitimate email from their solicitor, instructing them to transfer the huge sum of money.
"[The email had] his name, his business name and all of the contracts we've signed for the new property were all attached," a distraught Ms Aviles told 9News.
Ms Aviles alerted her solicitor that she'd paid the money into what she thought was the firm's Commonwealth Bank account.
"He yelled into the phone, "Call the bank straight away!'."
The Aviles' solicitor is just as baffled as the couple as to how the scammer obtained these details. "I've never even heard of anything like that," he said.
"It's such a big amount, the bank should have more procedures in place."
The story has a pretty satisfying ending though, as both banks involved have since been contacted and the funds frozen. The money is set to be returned to the Aviles family in the coming days.