Impersonator withdraws $15,000 from expat’s overseas account

Dubai-based Indian expatriate Anil Abraham discovered the identity theft’s scheme when a check Abraham legitimately signed bounced.

He immediately called his bank in India only to be told by the branch manager that the money was transferred at his request, first through e-mail, and then followed by a written and signed document supporting his email.

The money was transferred to someone named Garry Albert Frazer, through a Westpac bank account in New Zealand. 

Not only did Abraham not have any clue about who Frazer was, he did not know how the bank managed to obtain a signed affidavit from him instructing the bank to transfer the amount.

The answer: Abraham’s Gmail account, which held all his vital personal information, had been hacked.

As Abraham explains: “Frazer or whoever that hacked into my email had managed to obtain crucial details about my bank account in India. The person then corresponded with the manager in India, writing to him to transfer the amount and later forging my own signature to send additional documents. . .[When the bank] requested another written document, he managed to access my scanned passport copy before forging my signature.”

The letter issued to the bank had three errors. “Kerala was spelt as KEERALA and 15 as Fivteen,” Emirates 24/7 reports.