How a FAKE friend request from someone pretending to be Kyle Sandilands left one woman $600 out of pocket
- Woman was told in a reply from a faked Sandilands that she had won $1,000
- They then said they needed her bank account details to pay her the money
- Then she got a phone call from her bank that left her scared and panicked
A woman has revealed how she was scammed out of almost $600 after getting a Facebook friend request from someone posing as shock jock Kyle Sandilands.
Marina, from Sydney, answered a question on what appeared to be the Kyle and Jackie O page, then got a response claiming to be from the KIIS FM breakfast presenter.
She said the reply from Sandilands told her she had won $1,000.
Then the person said they needed her details to pay her the prize.
Marina (pictured) was caught up in an online scam after getting a friend request from someone pretending to be Kyle Sandilands
‘I didn’t think much of it as it was a reply after my comment,’ she told 7News.
Marina was then asked to fill out a questionnaire, which she did.
At the end, it said to click for further prizes and discounts, so she kept going along.
But then she was asked to provide her bank details so she could get her prize money.
Marina messaged the person asking why, and was told it was just a procedural matter, that she was going to be ‘charged $0.01 to activate account’.
So she paid it, not having any idea of what would happen next.
The next day, Marina got a phone call from her bank that left her scared and panicked.
Kyle Sandilands (pictured right) and his KIIS FM co-host Jackie O, are two celebrities whose names have been used by scammers
Scammers often use the names of celebrities such as Kyle Sandilands when trying to rip people off
‘My bank called to question if I’d authorised an $89 payment and a $500 payment as the seller was overseas,’ she said.
Marina said she had not, ‘and then I started panicking’.
She was fortunate her bank spotted it and called her so quickly. The bank refunded her $589 after cancelling her card.
Marina realises how lucky she was the bank checked with her. ‘If they didn’t they would have kept taking my money out,’ she said.
A spokesman for Sandilands told Daily Mail Australia that he had seen the story
‘He’ll be discussing and commenting on it during (Tuesday’s) radio broadcast,’ he said.
KIIS FM released a statement saying it never asks people for their card details.
‘Do your research when you’re asked for this sensitive information… If it looks dodgy, if it looks fake, it’s probably not us,’ the radio station said.
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