Super scammers stole all his super.

[Bobby]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-27/ ... /103962762

Super scammers defrauded Lee of his retirement savings.
Industry experts are calling for better protections




By national consumer affairs reporter Michael Atkin

updated 4h ago


He wanted to invest $10,000 first to see how it performed.

But scammers used the documents he'd provided to fraudulently take the lot.
One phone call could have stopped it
Lee was awarded 30 per cent of what he lost, about $54,000,
leaving him worse off after paying legal fees.


    In short: Lee Braz's entire super, $180,000,
was stolen by scammers who used fraudulent documents to trick his fund.
    He launched a four-year legal battle to get a refund from his super fund, but only got back a third, which didn't cover his legal fees.
    What's next? Industry experts want the federal government to urgently increase security obligations, such as multi-factor authentication and checks on who owns a bank account when rolling over a member's super.

Lee Braz was well into his 50s and knew he had to sort out his super.

Then he received a call from a Sydney company promising to help him do just that.

But the call was the start of a nightmare that would see Lee's entire super balance, about $180,000, stolen.

Before going ahead, Lee checked the company's website and saw it was properly registered in Australia.

In sales documents it claimed to have impressive returns using money from self-managed super funds to invest in tech and finance giants like Google and Visa.

Lee sent over his passport to open an account. He wanted to invest $10,000 first to see how it performed.

But scammers used the documents he'd provided to fraudulently take the lot.

[Bobby]

What the hell is going on?
So if a scammer has a copy of your passport details they can take all your super
and not even phone you to check if that is really you?

My opinion:
He should have received all of his $180,000 back plus interest
plus legal costs plus a substantial amount for the stress it caused.
Before the scammers got the residue,
the salesmen and managers of the super fund got their cut.
The Govt got all the taxes that his payments generated too.
The courts and the lawyers didn't help him - they made money out of it.
It's a scandal.
It could happen to any of us.

[Black Orchid]

Personally, I don't think he did his due diligence but still the super company who handed it all over should be liable imo and stronger security measures are definitely necessary.

I'm not sure i really understand it either. If he only handed over $10,000 to the frauds how did they know where all his super was? He must have told them?

There was an ING scam recently offering high interest on term deposits and people were mailed official and genuine looking brochures. They then called the 'ING number' on the brochure and, again, it all seemed legit so they handed over their money and lost it.

Pretty soon everyone is just going to buy a safe and keep their cash there and then try their luck at the casino especially with the government trying to force us into digital currency.

[Bobby]

Personally, I don't think he did his due diligence but still the super company who handed it all over should be liable imo and stronger security measures are definitely necessary.

I'm not sure i really understand it either. If he only handed over $10,000 to the frauds how did they know where all his super was? He must have told them?

There was an ING scam recently offering high interest on term deposits and people were mailed official and genuine looking brochures. They then called the 'ING number' on the brochure and, again, it all seemed legit so they handed over their money and lost it.

Pretty soon everyone is just going to buy a safe and keep their cash there and then try their luck at the casino especially with the government trying to force us into digital currency.

A safe is not much good if you get armed home invaders -
they'll make you open it with a gun against your head.

https://www.noticer.news/melbourne-supe ... pree-hunt/

Melbourne Australia.
The rampage comes after Victoria Police figures revealed that there have been 37,668 home invasions
in the state since 2014, affecting more than 94,000 residents and one in 75 homes.

[Sophia]

There has to be something wrong if money can be taken just by passport details!
Superannuation companies should be held liable if proper ID steps are not taken.
When buying or selling a house, there’s a lot of ID needed… we have to take a short video of ourselves saying words they put up randomly. We have to show our IDs in a few forms. Plus sign forms in front of a jp.
I can’t see why superannuation mobs can’t do that either!

[Sophia]

Personally, I don't think he did his due diligence but still the super company who handed it all over should be liable imo and stronger security measures are definitely necessary.

I'm not sure i really understand it either. If he only handed over $10,000 to the frauds how did they know where all his super was? He must have told them?

There was an ING scam recently offering high interest on term deposits and people were mailed official and genuine looking brochures. They then called the 'ING number' on the brochure and, again, it all seemed legit so they handed over their money and lost it.

Pretty soon everyone is just going to buy a safe and keep their cash there and then try their luck at the casino especially with the government trying to force us into digital currency.

A safe is not much good if you get armed home invaders -
they'll make you open it with a gun against your head.

https://www.noticer.news/melbourne-supe ... pree-hunt/

Melbourne Australia.
The rampage comes after Victoria Police figures revealed that there have been 37,668 home invasions
in the state since 2014, affecting more than 94,000 residents and one in 75 homes.

We were just taking about that and it was on the radio… one of the car jacking offenders has been caught 320 times!
Therefore, many of these are repeat offenders, being let go time and time again.

[Bobby]

We were just taking about that and it was on the radio… one of the car jacking offenders has been caught 320 times!
Therefore, many of these are repeat offenders, being let go time and time again.

320 times?

Link?

They should be hanged for the first offence.

[Sophia]

It was what was said on the radio in the work area… I have no idea where you can get a link from for that…
Maybe it’s something like that 12 year old brat arrested 70 times and they kept letting him go etc.

[Aquarius]

Lee Braz was well into his 50s and knew he had to sort out his super.

Then he received a call from a Sydney company promising to help him do just that.

Now see this is the problem ... he received a call from a Sydney company. I trust no one! Especially someone who calls me - not the other way around. I do remember a bit about this and I'm not sure if I remember it rightly, but he clicked onto something he saw on the internet? Then they responded. I think it was about self- managed super funds. But they were scammers all along.

First off, he should have done some investigation. I personally go into my bank and speak to the Manager about what I am planning to do - such as transferring large amounts of money into term deposits. We then do it in the bank. Although I do a lot of transfers via internet banking. But I always check and recheck.

The problem with most oldies is that they are too trusting. They grew up in a different era where the majority of people were honest. But the internet is another kettle of fish altogether. But 50 is not all that old. Family members should be more upfront in advising their older family members to not do anything without checking with them first. After all, that's potentially your inheritance that is at risk. You hear of cases where these scammers have kept people on the phone for 6 hours! And that didn't seem to set off any alarm bells!