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2017 started out as a good year for Jo Groves — in January she and her 14-year-old daughter moved into the home she had painstakingly renovated in Lismore in northern New South Wales.
However, less than two months later, her home was submerged in a foot of water during the Cyclone Debbie floods which wreaked havoc in the region.
But as the water receded and the clean up began, Ms Groves discovered that her problems were only just beginning.
"Look, it's South Lismore, there is always going to be a risk of a flood," she said.
"But it's what has happened since then that makes me feel like I've had enough."
Ms Groves' insurance company did a strip out of her home, forcing her to move into a rental property as she waited for her payout to fund repairs.
After waiting almost 18 months, Ms Groves received a $69,000 payment which her mortgagee, the Commonwealth Bank, insisted on controlling and distributing to the relevant trades people.
In August this year Ms Groves received what she thought was an invoice from her builder for $14,200.
"My builder rang me and told me he'd be sending me through an invoice that I was expecting," she said.
"I opened it up and printed it out — it was on his letter head, so I signed it and sent it to the Commonwealth Bank and they paid it."
But when the builder called to say he had not received the funds, Ms Groves realised she had been a victim of a scam.
"The invoice had been fraudulently reproduced by someone we assume was off-shore, and they had just changed the bank account details on the bottom of the invoice and put their details on the invoice," she said.
"We believe the builder's email was hacked, since these scammers often target small businesses."
Ms Groves quickly notified the bank, asking them to retrieve the funds.
"The bank took the full 21 days to deliberate the matter and they told me while I had been scammed, they had attempted to recover the funds but had been unsuccessful and they weren't going to reimburse me the money."
Ms Groves believes that since she notified the bank within 10 days of the fraud, she is entitled to have the money returned.
"There are E-codes that the Commonwealth Bank is voluntary signatory to, that if you report those mistaken transactions within 10 business days, then you get your money back, but they're not adhering to that," she said.
In a statement, the Commonwealth Bank said it was continuing to investigate the matter.
"We are cornered when any customer is the victim of fraud," the statement said.
"As soon as we were alerted to this issue, we conducted a full investigation.
"On this occasion, it appears the fraudulent activity occurred prior to the bank processing the transaction.
"This is a very unfortunate situation and we have been working with the customer to discuss her options."
Ms Groves, who works at a community legal centre, says she is now stuck in a loop, unable to make the final payment to her builder to complete the repairs on her home so she can move back in.
"I now pay $400 a fortnight on my mortgage, as well as $780 in rent and I only earn $1850 a fortnight, it's difficult," she said.
If the bank's internal investigation again denies reimbursing the defrauded funds, Ms Groves says she will go to the financial ombudsman.
"It's particularly frustrating because had I been managing my own money, I would've seen that the payment had been made into the wrong bank account," she said.
Ms Groves said her work in the legal centre with people facing myriad struggles is a constant reminder that many people are worse off than her, and she remains optimistic that she will somehow get back into her house.
"I don't know how I'll get home, but I know that I will," she said.
Topics: floods, banking, lismore-2480, mermaid-beach-4218, coffs-harbour-2450
First posted