The ploy has been tried more than 600 times and unfortunately seven people have fallen for it.<\/p>\n

Scammers have already made off with $118,000 already with one unlucky victim handing over $36,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the number of people paying these scammers is low, the large amounts being lost per person is alarming,\u201d Assistant Commissioner Trent Jakubowski said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing that instead of scammers asking for a specific amount of money, they\u2019re requesting victims transfer every last dollar in their bank account.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said it was malicious that fraudsters were stealing money under the guise of saving victims from other scammers trying to access their accounts.<\/p>\n

Mr Jakubowski said the victims who had lost the largest amounts of money had unexpectedly been younger people aged 18-24.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a reminder for everyone to keep their guard up when answering an unexpected call,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we more often hear stories of older Australians being targeted by scammers, these devastating losses show that anyone can be a target.\u201d<\/p>\n