Yahoo Finance Warning to Aussies over ‘Kochie’ scam: ‘Very easy to get sucked in’
Aussies are being warned over scams using a fake David Koch, after one woman was fleeced of thousands.
Scammers are using the name and image of the Sunrise presenter to try to trick Aussies into investing in fake cryptocurrency schemes.
One victim, 73-year-old great-grandmother Dale Hambrook, said she lost almost $150,000 to the scam.
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Speaking to 7NEWS, Hambrook said she received the fake email from an unknown sender and thought she could use the extra money to help pay for eye surgery.
“I got an email about Kochie investing in Bitcoin and he was doing very well with it, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to make a few dollars,” Hambrook said.
She eventually invested thousands into the fake scheme and only realised it was a scam when she asked for some of her money back and got no response.
Hambrook’s granddaughter, Rachel, said even she was fooled by the scam.
“There’s reviews, there’s people commenting with real names so you think it’s with real stories - it’s very easy to get sucked in,” she told 7NEWS.
Kochie urges Aussies to ‘beware’
Earlier this month, the real Kochie took to social media to warn Aussies about the scams.
In addition to emails, scammers have also been posting fake ads on social media, as well as websites like realestate.com.au and the Wall Street Journal.
“Beware… 2023 and the financial scams keep on coming more than ever,” Kochie wrote on Instagram.
“The one on the left came up on @realestateaus as I was scrolling the site. The one on the right was sent to me yesterday from Instagram.
“They are scams trying to con you by illegally using my image and attributing fictitious comments to me.”
Kochie told one follower he had received a lot of reports from people who had lost money from the scams.
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