‘MasterChef’ finalist made homeless due to hacker attack

Image: The Wholehearted Cook official website

Former “MasterChef” contestant Dani Venn has been rendered homeless due to a hacker attack made on Australia’s new online property transfer system.

The amount of $250,000 (around P13.3 million) was stolen after Sargeants Knox Conveyancing, a property transfer company, got hacked. The money had been the settlement for a property her family bought near the sea on Melbourn’s Monington Peninsula, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

As the money got transferred, the hackers directed the funds to a fraudulent account set up using the conveyancer’s electronic property transfer account manager.

The hackers broke through the security measures put up for the electronic property system being run by Property Exchange Australia (PEXA), a private company owned by state governments, the ANZ, CBA, NAB, Westpac, Macquarie Bank, private equity and property developer Paul Little.

Authorities are already investigating the case; however, it remains unclear on who will take responsibility. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia and PEXA have denied picking up the bill.

“We haven’t been able to settle on the property. We stand to lose our deposit of $80,000 and the new house. We are also getting charged interest of $500 a day on a default notice until we can come up with the money,” Venn said in the report.

While Venn and her family try to ride out the nightmare in a single room at a relative’s home, offers have gone out for temporary accommodation at Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, according to an updated report.

Friends have also pledged thousands of dollars in donations through a GoFundMe page to help Venn’s family get their dream home. Venn already sold their Smiths Gully home on June 15 when they found out the settlement money for their new home had been stolen.  Alfred Bayle /ra

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