A HSBC customer has slammed her bank over their pitiful response after she was scammed out of $50,000 – and her two year battle to claw back the money.
Katrina Qian, 44, thought she had received a call from a government official right before Easter in 2023.
He informed her there had been a series of suspicious transactions and that he desperately needed her bank details to stop them from going through.
‘He asked me which bank card you have,’ Ms Qian told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘I told him HSBC, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and Bank of China.Â
He said, ‘Let’s go with HSBC first. Tell me your HSBC mobile app name, user ID and password.’ Then I told him.’Â
The scammer was then able to use a HSBC Everyday Global Account to exchange almost $50,000 of Ms Qian’s money into British pounds.
The sum was directed overseas with the bank refusing to take liability, sparking a two-year battle that has ended with a measly $9,500 goodwill gesture from the bank.
Katrina Qian, 44, thought she had received a call from a government official right before Easter in 2023
The scammer was then able to use a HSBC Everyday Global Account to exchange almost $50,000 of Ms Qian’s money into British pounds
Ms Qian had only recently moved to Sydney when she was caught up in the scam.
She said she phoned the bank’s hotline after being told by the scammer that her money was not safe.
It was then that she was informed that her $50,000 had been stolen.
‘The money has been taken out from your account by a fraudster,’ the bank teller told her.Â
Ms Qian claimed the bank informed her it was not liable for the loss as she had been the one to provide her passwords to the scammer.
HSBC also claimed in a message the new account that was created by the scammers appeared to have been created at a location ‘consistent with the addresses held on our records for you by HSBC at the time’, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Ms Qian made another complaint this year and said she was offered a $9,500 ‘goodwill’ payment, even though she had demanded to be fully reimbursed.
‘They said you only have 14 days to receive this offer. Otherwise, we can’t give you anything,’ she said.
Ms Qian said she accepted the offer out of fear she would not get anything if she turned it down.
Daily Mail contacted HSBC for comment.Â
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Katrina lost $50,000 to scammers – then spent two years fighting to get it back after her bank refused to bow to pressure. Instead, they made a measly offer