In The News: Did CBA Lose $90k or WTF Is Happening?

TL;DR
Young couple reckon they have lost $90k.
Commbank reckon they never had $90k.
Couple have statements and screenshots.
Commbank say the numbers don't match their records.

Audio:

4th September

‘No answers’: Major bank bungle leaves a young couple $90k out of pocket

5th September

Neil Mitchell provides update on Commonwealth Bank debacle involving young couple

Video:

5th? September

Young Melbourne couple mysteriously lose almost $100,000 in savings after buying dream home

Text:

4th September

Commonwealth Bank blunder: Victorian couple lose $90,000 before bank sends link to suicide helpline

5th September

Commonwealth Bank of Australia hits back after redacted claimed bank lost $90,000 life savings

Couple claim they've lost nearly $100,000 after savings 'mysteriously disappear' from bank account

6th September

The four questions that need to be answered about Commonwealth Bank 'missing $90,000' mystery

Commonwealth Bank have spoken out after a Melbourne couple claimed they lost $90,000

7th September

New claim surfaces after couple claim CBA lost $90k of savings

New claim surfaces after couple claim CBA lost $90k of savings

Commonwealth Bank couple's 'missing $90K': Family of Melbourne pair hit out over bank record debacle

New claim surfaces after couple claim CBA lost $90k of savings

8th September

Commonwealth Bank mystery $90k: How young couple's campaign for answers about what happened badly backfired - as loved ones share their theory about what happened

9th September

Commonwealth Bank mystery $90k: How young couple's campaign for answers about what happened badly backfired - as loved ones share their theory about what happened

Mental health concerns for couple who lost $90k after media campaign backfires

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Comments

  • +14

    According to CBA via news.com.au

    According to the statement, Mr Murphy has also been informed that the account in question is a NetBank Saver, “which only permits transfers to another CBA account and is unable to process transfers to another financial institution”.

    CBA’s statement added that Mr Murphy had made a complaint and asked CBA to investigate his account balance after two failed transfers to the Bank of Melbourne, as he contended that the balance should be $96,000.

    Hmm

    • +67

      Having worked for the CBA in the past , I would be willing to bet 5 figures that this is a load of bull, CBA has very robust Systems and its not possible for any employee, no matter at what level to manipulate the systems, there are more than enough checks and balances , this stinks to high heaven, unfortunately there are enough of people who think oh , if i go to a current affair try to raise a stink and all, I can blackmail a large institution even if i am a fraud , the bank will pay me to just go away .

      Transfer from a NBS is not possible to other bank ac, and to say that a transaction history has disappeared is like saying they are witnessing the second coming of jesus . a massive organisation liker cba which has the best IT systems of any Financial organisation of australia or dare i say the world, would never take a stand on a ( what it might seem to the general public) measly amount unless they know they are in the right.

      And who comes to back them up now, the SISTER oh of course LOL , back up your words Sister , i can claim tomorrow that ozlotteries is rigged and I should have won the megamillions lotto, but I was CHEATED

      • +33

        The bank won't pay them but create a big enough stink someone will most likely set up a gofundme for them and a bunch of naive people will willingly donate. Same goes for those morons who go to Bali without travel insurance, get in a moped accident and end up getting tens of thousands from strangers to cover their medical bill.

        • +2

          You know the travel insurance usually don’t cover you when you hop on a moped

          • +6

            @Wt133: You'll probably be covered if you already hold an Australian riders license.

            • +1

              @ZachBlasphemy: The cover is stated in the policy. It states cc and requirements if any policy including moped cover

          • +3

            @Wt133: Literally only way is if you have a valid australian motorbike license and an international drivers license

        • +2

          Insurance doesn't cover you, if you are drunk apparently.

          • +1

            @congo: Yeah and it doesn't cover anything illegal.

        • +1

          the best I've seen is a chick with a massive OF following setting up a go fund me to pay for her dogs vet bill… some people man honestly.

          • +2

            @oldyellah: Yeh I've seen plenty of these OF girls asking people to fund their boyfriends/relatives medical bill because they got into accident while on holiday. Meanwhile you check their IG and they're driving an AMG merc, loads of designer handbags and clothes lol. Some people are shameless.

      • +6

        This story just gets more and more wild - gotta love the ‘it could happen to you, your mum, your sister etc line’ - trying to whip up some public outrage at two Aussie battlers. Netflix should be waiting in the wings for their next blockbuster story.

      • +4

        @Salternative, are you absolutely certain you haven't secretly perfected the art of time travel and are still secretly working for CBA in the past? 😄

      • +6

        Best systems in the world might be stretching it but agree on everything else working at another major bank. Even viewing an account gets flagged and if they’re well known individuals you will be asked to explain.

        This kind of shit is built in at the fundamental levels of their systems, they’re designed to provide audit history to multiple places. This story doesn’t really stack up at all

      • +2

        While I am sure Banks have good systems in place, they have also been known / caught to make mistakes as well as then hide those mistakes…. While in this case they may be right. I am not going to blanketly believe banks.

        • Consider so many of them are still running Windows xp at great expense, and keeping xp updated for that reason, I guess they arent quite cutting edge

      • +3

        CBA has very robust Systems and its not possible for any employee, no matter at what level to manipulate the systems, there are more than enough checks and balances

        That's what Centrelink said, until somebody entered a date into a value field and paid somebody else over $2m.

        St George probably thought the same thing when it let somebody draw infinite cash from an account that was in deficit.

        • +1

          Both hilarious.
          And i bet it was the customers involved who got into trouble not the company or employees right?

          • @bargain huntress: Given they effectively stole the money (they knew it wasn't theirs but spent it anyway), of course they should be the ones getting in trouble.

            • -1

              @callum9999: So when a bank makes a mistake and adds money into your account, you're the thief, but when oldies get scammed and scammers take their money out of their bank account, it's the oldies problem.

              I'm so glad banks make billions of dollars in profit every quarter.

              • @Vanceer: Utterly ridiculous…

                1. Of course you're the thief if you STEAL THE MONEY that they accidently put in your account. Are you seriously saying that if someone accidently sent money to a bank and they refused to give it back that would be fine with you?

                2. I actually don't agree that should be the oldie's problem, but that's not remotely the same scenario… The bank did nothing wrong - they'd be compensating the customer out of their own funds for something they didn't do.

                3. The amount of profit someone makes is irrelevant - you shouldn't be stealing.

          • +1

            @bargain huntress: Regardless, the robustness of the systems in place doesn't refer to just preventing mistakes from happening, but also to the paper trail left behind to track mistakes when they occur.

        • +1

          But that's not the same as this case at all. In this case, Commbank are claiming that a) the money was never there and b) even if it was, you can't transfer funds from it to other banks anyway.

          The Centrelink example was someone typing in the wrong amount in the payment field. I'm sure they should have some kind of basic error checking that would flag the payment as obviously too big, but it wasn't a glitch that circumvented account operating procedures.

          The St George example was someone being given an unlimited overdraft. Again, some kind of basic error checking should have flagged it, but account operating procedures weren't circumvented.

          This case would require a huge amount more to go wrong to cause the money to vanish. As well as Commbanks entire records history being unreliable, payments would have to have been made from an account that cannot physically make those payments.

      • Having had CBA lose $12k of ours I'd say their robust systems are a load of bull.

  • +43

    'On examination of the images of the receipts provided, the documents differ from genuine CBA receipts and the receipt numbers do not exist in CBA's records.

    So someone's committing fraud orrr CBA's cooked it.

    It's Dailymail sensationalist crap, don't really read journalist's crap who get their degree from a cereal box.

    • +23

      It's not hard to edit a PDF.

      • +14

        Not hard to fake statements, melissa caddick did it and fooled her closest friends and family out of 20odd million dollarydoos

        • +2

          If only banks used distributed public blockchains instead of maintaining numerous and massive central databases, and all the infrastructure necessary to support them and all their legacy uses and applications.

          Then you wouldn't even need to ask the bank about a transaction, you could verify the movement of funds yourself and at no cost.

          Like having a country with too many governments, a finance industry dependent on banks chock-full of rent-seeking leaches just generates endless waste.

          • @resisting the urge: The dream. Do you think it will ever be reality? Im afraid its about to become a nightmare with all these CBDCs in the works.

            • +1

              @bargain huntress: They will simply access the transactions on the blockchain, and/or charge you to access them, just like they do with existing protocols and networks, eg. FIX, SWIFT, OUCH, SAIL, SBE, OMEX, IPF, VISA, MC, and their myriads of poorly developed and prehistoric backend systems.

              The idea is to give you no option but to use the new technology with them standing in the middle, collecting a portion of every transaction and funnelling it out to their executive and shareholder accounts.

              • @resisting the urge: Ive also heard they will be able to make welfare payments expire to make you spend it if they want to stimulate the economy, and various other scary things.

                • +1

                  @bargain huntress: Most ideas that 'encourage good citizenry' (even if just temporary behaviours) are well received up high, and can be turned into a successful populist campaign and build further support.

            • +1

              @bargain huntress: We live it now, it is just that we the people do not adopt blockchains and use them to create and handle transactions and contracts because the rest of humanity hasn't done so either.

              Instead we wait for the next Ice Age, or to be told what to do, rather than deciding we best hurry up and use technology to improve how we do transactions and business contracts.

    • It's Dailymail sensationalist crap, don't really read journalist's crap who get their degree from a cereal box

      Also channel 7, the herald sun, the chronicle, 3aw, and news.com.au. also dailymail is one of the oldest publications in the world. Granted it has evolved a lot over time.

    • +9

      Not quite the same. In crypto, by its very design, security is on you - thats the whole point.

      With a bank security is mostly on them.

    • +11

      For crypto, any losses is on you.
      But if a Bank lost your $90k (and it's definitely their fault), hell yes you have the right to cry and go crazy on them.

      • But if a Bank lost your $90k (and it's definitely their fault)

        Is it though?

        • It's a hypothetical statement. In this case it's probably fraud

    • No worries mate

    • +5

      Least delusional cryptobro

    • +1

      How’d you even make a loss in crypto? What

      • Buy high, sell low. That's the way!

    • +1

      Weird flex

  • +64

    Theory I read is that one spent all the cash without the knowledge of the other and is covering for now with fake documents.

    • +5

      Yeh that’s what I’m backing here too. At the start sounded like CBA stuff up but not anymore

    • +2

      Keep your financial independence ladies.

      • +6

        My partner and I have separate accounts and I think its why we have never fought over money. As long as we both contribute to the house and kid costs in an equal manner, we are free to spend our spare money however we see fit.

        • +24

          Sounds rather sad

        • +4

          You got a kid and you have your “own” accounts?

          • +4

            @AustriaBargain: Yes, you have a joint account for shared expenses, such as house and child, but then you have your own money to spend (or save) as you like.

            No arguments, each party agrees to contribute to the shared account, all is well.

            • +25

              @AyjeofSpades: If I had a partner I actually liked and I made more money than them, and was married to them let alone had a kid with them, I'd be happy to share our wealth equally. If I made 100k after tax and they made 50k, then we'd both effectively be making 75k. If I died then it would all be theirs anyway. I mean what do you do if you inherited five million, you'd go on holidays alone to luxury resorts? You'd build up your man cave with all the best things while your shared living room was kitted out with ratty Ikea furniture and the old TCL TV?

              Seems crazy to me. Maybe it would make sense if you didn't really like your spouse, if you didn't think of them as a real life partner. And if you wouldn't care if they shared nothing with you if they fell into a huge sum of money. Heck they may want a divorce so they can share their new life with someone who wants to be their soulmate.

              • +6

                @AustriaBargain: Not quite how we do it..

                You sit down together and consider what goals you have as a couple and for your family. Want a nice house? Holidays? Investment property? From there you work out what what proportion of your wages will go towards that lifestyle.

                The person earning more can still contribute a larger amount to the shared accounts, holidays and joint savings. Then each person is left with equal disposable income for whatever they want. I like to bargain and save, and maybe I use that on the man cave later, while my spouse likes to buy smaller but more frequent luxuries - no stress, it's your money to do as you want. There's no argument or negotiation on spending, and no issues of fairness.

                To each their own, this is what works for us.

                • +1

                  @AyjeofSpades: So if you made 200k and she made 50k, then you'd organise finances so that you put in 190k into common funds per year for houses shared investments etc., she puts in 40k, and you each have 10k for yourselves left over?

                  • +3

                    @AustriaBargain: Yep, our goal is to have equal 'spending money' each week. A negotiated amount we're both happy with to get through the week and still enjoy life while we work towards the bigger shared goals.

                    Obviously its not that simple for everyone.. like if you arent equally commited to the long-term dream, or one party doesn't work equal amounts. It's easier if you're both in a similar position..

              • +2

                @AustriaBargain: Wow this blew up.

                My partner, she is the wealthier one in the relationship. We are high income earners and the house is kitted out quite nicely. We discuss big joint purchases and the kids want for nothing. She can go on expensive ski trips and holidays and I buy tech stuff.

                No conflict.

                • +1

                  @nedski: Until she meets Liam Neeson on her ski trip, and then it's all over red rover

        • +1

          This is the way.

      • +3

        Why would you assume that the guy is the one who spent all the money?

        • +12

          Fair question.

          2 reasons:
          a) the account is in his name only.
          b) she's the one who has done most of the talking to the media, and has sounded and appeared distressed. he has been a lot more quiet and less visibly or audibly upset. Video: https://7news.com.au/news/vic/young-melbourne-couple-mysteri…

          Neither of those prove anything though obviously.

    • +2

      Transaction history would still exist.

    • +1

      Be easy for the bank to show a transaction somewhere. My theory is that these people are full of shit. Our banks don't need to rob people, to be robbing people.

  • +3

    Interesting that they were both saving into an account in his name, and not a joint account.

    • +3

      In a joint account they would both have direct access to the bank, online, on the phone, in person.

      For checking the balance and deposits and for spending.

      Seeing as it was in his name only, she would have had to go through him for everything.

      • +2

        In CBA system, you can go to CBA to ask to have your partner account appear in your netbank account, you can even make transaction on it.

        • Yeah, that's turning the account into a joint account then.

          • +4

            @MrTweek: No, it still two different personal account, join account will have two name on it.

            For example husband have account A with husband name on it, wife have account B with wife on it
            go to the CBA said you want to authorise account for other people, then sign some form.
            and when the husband open the netbank they can see the A and B account on it as two separate account

            not sure if other bank have this feature.

            See below from Commbank

            Access to your accounts – Third party authority
            A third party authority gives another person or persons access to one or more of your bank accounts. It’s arranged directly by visiting a CommBank branch and allows the authorised person(s) to transact on your nominated bank accounts.

            You can only authorise access to your accounts if you fully understand the nature and implication of the authority you’re giving.

            You may choose to authorise permanent access.
            You may cancel the authority at any time by advising CommBank.
            The authorised person will have access to pay bills or transfer money from authorised bank accounts, but not lending products such as a home loan or credit cards.
            The authorised person won’t have authority to open new accounts or credit cards.
            The authority will be cancelled if CommBank becomes aware that you can no longer manage your financial affairs

    • It also makes me wonder WHY they arranged things that way.

      And what that suggests about their relationship and the individuals in it.

      • +4

        Maybe. We have an account in my name for tax reasons, I can get interest from it and not get slugged with tax.
        We also have a joint account for day to day stuff.

      • +7

        Almost all the savings accounts I/my partner have are in her name alone, because she is on a lower tax rate than I am. But I have all the log in details and we have a joint transaction account/credit cards. Its got nothing to do with anything 'about our relationship', other than she earns less (despite being far smarter)

        • +8

          I doubt the individuals in the article know what a tax rate is, let alone what their respective rates are.

        • +2

          far smarter

          money is all in her name.

          story checks out.

      • As well as Eightimmortals and dtcs reasonable suggestions, it occured to me that they could also have an arrangement where one of them saves while the other pays the rent for example. In which case that person is extra screwed should it turn out the other has only been pretending to save.

  • +11

    As they were on holiday in Bali at the time the couple couldn't transfer the money internationally

    What does this even mean? Don't they have phone apps?

    • +3

      Transfering such large amount of money in one go may require you to call the bank directly (as this will hit their daily transfer limit). I had the same problem this year as well. Had to call the bank to explain why i wanted to transfer a large amount before my bank lifted the transfer limit temporarily for an hour so i could do the transfer. I couldnt bother doing this while i was overseas as i didnt have roaming. This is Bankwest's process, not sure about CBA.

      • +2

        This should be mandatory across the board. I can’t believe how often I keep reading scammers scam person out of life savings after telling them to transfer money to account etc. Banks should have a limit of 10K daily and anything above that requires a call so the bank can check and ask questions to make sure its valid.. I think this would solve a lot of problems

        • +4

          Please no, I hate that. Somehow a voice phone call is considered the pinnacle of security. Maybe it works because no scammers have the patience for the hour's wait on hold to do anything.
          But frustrating that the banks all set up apps with authentication and secure messaging but don't let you use it.

          • +2

            @md333: Last time I did it to pay for a car the call seemed to more about sussing out whether I was complying with a scam more so than whether I was me.
            Who are you paying? Are you sure it is a real dealership? Did you get the details dirctly or are you communicating via email?
            It seemed more about protecting stupid customers from paying scams.

            Im sure it would also help that fraud department person focus on the customers records for that moment, they would be looking at login history to see if it had sus IP or new hardware fingerprint. If anything seems sus they can throw in a tricky question to make an impersonator trip up.

          • +2

            @md333: Yep. If someone manages to port my mobile number, I'm pretty much (profanity) aren't I.

        • +6

          Scammers are using AI to copy voices now. So thats not going to work.

          The banks are going to have to go back to having branches and actually staffing and opening them all day and after hours.

          Instead they try to blame you for security breaches.

        • +1

          why do i need to be effected because a certain percentage of people arent smart enough to protect their money?

          • @Freestyle: How often do you transfer more than 10 or 20K to a person?
            Also what if it was your mother or father affected. Have a heart, a slight minor inconvenience for the greater good.

            • @Iwantthebestprice: Some of us do it frequently, for example share/crypto trading or chasing the HISA accounts every few months.

              • +1

                @idonotknowwhy: Transferring into a business account I get, but person to person account not so much.
                I think if person to person - limit in place.
                Person to business account, crypto, stocks etc no limit.
                I doubt scammers are setting up a business bank account with an ABN etc to scam people.
                Something has to be done to stop this disgusting act on vulnerable people in our community regardless if some people are inconvenienced.

      • Transfering such large amount of money in one go may require you to call the bank directly (as this will hit their daily transfer limit).

        You can definitely have a transfer limit above $100k.

    • +3

      It might have been enforcing a SMS 2FA, which is a pain when you dont travel with roaming.

      But the story is full of holes anyway. Those Netbank saver accounts only move money to one linked CBA transaction account, so it was never going to do a direct transfer to a third party anyway. You have to shift to your own transction first, which would usually have a daily cap which you need to get lifted to move $90k, and then transfer from the transaction account, which also has caps you have to call to lift.

    • +1

      On top of the other suggestions in this thread, it could also be straight reluctance to try and manage that amount of money from overseas. I know I'd rather do it in Aus where I know I could completely trust my internet access, etc. and if need be I could easily make a call to the bank or walk into a branch.

  • +16

    Deon Hong has a new scam!

  • +10

    I have to admit, my thoughts were that one of the two (him) may have spent the money. More so when the CBA response was the documents provided by the couple did not appear to be genuine. I hope if im wrong the couple get their money back.

    • +10

      The badly written news.com.au article I think suggests there was never even close to that money at all…I guess unless this has been a long con that has now stepped up 50x in craziness

      • Correct, never had more than 75 cents according to the bank.. really curious how this will end. I feel the bank would know pretty quickly if the account ever had 90K in it. I think they are modern day Bonnie and Clyde’s trying to rob the bank, but the non violent way and less high speed getaways etc

        • +4

          "really curious how this will end, I think they are modern day Bonnie and Clyde’s trying to rob the bank." Shot down on the side of a road but in a "non violent way".

  • +13

    If i'm going to take a guess, it would be with the CBA. They have all the history and data of the account. Their systems are very robust. Did this couple edit the HTML on the bank accounts to show $90000, take screenshots and try and defraud the bank? Maybe, people have had worse goes at trying to defraud big business.

    Where are all the transactions of them transferring money to the Netbank saver account to build it up to $90000 in the first place?

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