A 60-year-old man lost his life savings when he believed he would become a millionaire by collecting the inheritance of a deceased relative, which resulted in a scam that left him on the street.
The events occurred in the city of Melbourne in Australia in 1986, when little was said about cyber fraud. At that time, Renato Calalang had emigrated from Manila in the Philippines, where he would live out his work retirement.
With 150 thousand dollars in his account, raised by decades of hard work, and with the hope of enjoying an early retirement with his family in one of the best cities in the world, Renato could not imagine what his life could change with an email electronic.
In a random day, Renato received a fraudulent email claiming that he had inherited a large sum of money of a relative who died in the Philippines. Convinced by the apparent legitimacy of the email and backed by falsified documents, Renato followed the procedure to collect the $4.1 million that the inheritance promised.
After a convincing process, Renato started making deposits to bank accounts in the Philippines, believing he was securing his future inheritance. Even after having doubts, he remained deceived after speaking with alleged bank executives.
After months of sporadic deposits, Renato finally realized the scam, but it was too late. Despite the Commonwealth Bank's efforts to recover the funds, the complexity of the situation made recovery of the money impossible.
Call for awareness and prevention
Renato decided to share his story as a warning to othersurging people to be wary of scam emails promising unexpected inheritances.
Although today it is a topic that has been much talked about and warned about, Renato reminds everyone that it is vital to verify the authenticity of such claims directly with family members and trusted banking authorities.
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