88-year-old stripped of life savings | 9 News Australia

Good evening.It's been labelled an appalling betrayal.An 88 -year -old Paddington retiree defrauded of his entire life savings, more than half a million dollars.Tonight, two men aged in their 20s are accused of calling random numbers before they found their victim, convincing the dementia sufferer they worked for the Commonwealth Bank.

Two siblings accused of targeting the most vulnerable.I consider targeting the most vulnerable George and Jesse Mensah are accused of fleecing almost $600 ,000 from an 88 -year -old with dementia.

exploited this man for pure financial gain.

Police arrested the pair at their Yagoona unit yesterday morning and alleged they ran a cold calling scheme randomly phoning numbers until they found their victim who lived alone in Paddington.

They acted on his vulnerabilities but I'm convinced that this was targeted and socially engineered towards the victim.

Through several phone calls, one lasting 90 minutes, they allegedly convinced the retiree they worked for Commonwealth Bank and obtained all of his account details.They're then accused of using the stolen money to buy shares.

They only interacted him over the phone and he was convinced that he was talking to his own banking people.

After learning of the scam, Commonwealth Bank reimbursed the victim for all the money stolen from him.The brothers were granted bail late this afternoon.Their lawyer, Abdul Sadiq, telling Nine News his clients would fight the charges and were the victims of a much larger scheme.Police say the investigation is ongoing and they're looking for at least two other men.Emma Partridge, Nine News.