'What I wish I knew before it happened to me'

If Maude Freeman* had noticed the experience at the ATM at her local shopping centre felt different to usual, she might have removed her card before she entered her pin.

However, the first time the 37-year-old podcast producer realised something was amiss was later that day – while she was enjoying a celebratory end-of-week schnitzel at her favourite pub in Balmain – when her bank texted to say it had blocked her account.

“A minute later I got a call from them asking if I had just withdrawn $500 from an ATM in Leichardt,” Maude recalls.

“I was like, ’No, I’m at the pub and I have the card here with me – you will see EFTPOS transactions from the food and drinks I’ve bought. You can even check the CCTV footage and you will see I’ve been here most of the night.”

Her bank immediately cancelled her card to prevent any more withdrawals and Maude returned to her table of friends to unpack how someone had managed to steal $500 from her bank account just a couple of suburbs away.

“It was pretty creepy to be honest,” she says.

“I hardly ever withdraw cash, but I must have got some out to buy something a few months prior and had my card skimmed. They waited until a random Friday night to go and take $500.”

While the bank launched an internal fraud investigation, they instructed her to go to her local police station to make a full report.

“I had to tell my story to three different police officers, and they wrote it down and read it back to me, then I had to sign the one they had written,” she says.

Luckily, Maude had savings so was OK while she waited for the $500 to be returned, but she was left with an “icky” feeling knowing that she’d been scammed in her own community.

“I usually use my phone to pay for everything, so it was rare for me to withdraw cash unless I had to pay someone in cash,” she says.

“I’d had other instances where my bank was like, ‘Did you just try and spend $50 in Los Angeles and I was like ‘No’ but this time felt dodgy. Leichardt has an older population who’ve been there forever and whose entire lives probably still revolve around cash – I was wondering how often it had happened to these older people.”

Maude is hardly alone when it comes to being scammed. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports more than 2 million Australians experienced card fraud in 2023-24, with 72 per cent fully reimbursed by their card issuer.

Bendigo Bank customers can feel reassured that in the event of a scam, the bank will act swiftly.

“If you think your card has been misplaced and not stolen, you can temporarily block it using the Bendigo Bank app or through your e-banking,” says Dennis Teale, general manager of retail banking at Bendigo Bank.

“This is a great first step as it gives you some breathing room to look for it without worrying about unauthorised transactions.”

If you notice unfamiliar transactions, Dennis suggests you check your receipts then consider contacting the merchant directly for clarification.

“If the issue remains unresolved or seems fraudulent, immediately contact the bank by phone, or via e-banking to dispute the transaction,” he says, adding that the bank offers comprehensive controls over your cards directly through its app.

“You can instantly activate new cards, temporarily block a misplaced card, or immediately report one as lost or stolen for a swift replacement,” he says. “All of this is protected by robust security measures, including secure login options like Face ID or a PIN, and multi-factor authentication to verify important activities, ensuring your banking is both simple and safe.”

As for Maude, she is now on high alert whenever she has to withdraw cash.

“I try to use ATMs from major banks and always cover my pin with my other hand or a bag. The police told me that you can often notice that the ATM ‘feels’ bulkier than usual, and that can be a sign that [the fraudsters] have put something over the top of the ATM that allows them to skim the card and the pin,” she says.

“It took a while before I got the cash back, so if you think you’ve been scammed, my advice would be to get the ball rolling on an investigation as soon as you can.”

Find out more about Bendigo Banks products and services by visiting bendigobank.com.au.

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*Name has been changed for privacy reasons.