Carlton’s Jacob Weitering, a talented AFL player, has shared his heartbreaking story of falling victim to an elaborate bank scam that left him without his entire life savings. The 25-year-old has spoken out about his ordeal to prevent others from falling prey to similar scams.
The scam began when Weitering received a text message on a Friday last year notifying him of suspicious activity on his account. He believed he was communicating with his bank, National Australia Bank, but it was later discovered that he was dealing with sophisticated scammers. They convinced him that his accounts had been frozen and that he needed to transfer his money to a “safeguarding account.” Over the course of a week, Weitering deposited his funds into the account, emptying his accounts in the process. The scammers’ perfect role-playing made it impossible for Weitering to detect the scam, and he lost a large amount of money in the process, impacting his family plans.
Weitering has shared his story to help educate others about the dangers of bank scams. He sat down with NAB CEO Ross McEwan to record a video that will be shown to NAB staff to help them recognize and prevent scams. Weitering hopes that his story will prevent others from falling victim to similar scams. Sadly, he is not the first and won’t be the last victim of elaborate bank scams. More than a dozen NAB customers have lost between $4,000 and $80,000 each to these types of scams. One couple, Eve and Josh, lost almost $20,000 that they had saved running their largely tourist-based business in Far North Queensland, which was badly hit by the pandemic.
These scams usually start with a text message that appears to be from the bank, notifying the customer of fraudulent activity on their account and asking them to call the number back immediately. The message appears in the same thread as other correspondence from the bank, making it seem genuine and lulling the customers into a false sense of security. The scammers are so sophisticated that it’s difficult to detect their fraud at every step of the process.
Weitering’s story is a reminder to be vigilant and cautious when it comes to banking and personal finances. It’s important to verify any communication received from banks and financial institutions and not to divulge any personal or financial information over the phone or via email unless you are sure of the authenticity of the communication.
