A single mother who was defrauded out of her life savings by serial fraudster Hamish McLaren warned this could happen to anyone.
Tracy Hall, from Sydney, was in a relationship with a man she believed was called Max Tavita in 2016.
‘Max’, who was actually serial fraudster and love rat Hamish McLaren, convinced her to set up a self-managed super fund which she believed was in her name during their 16-month relationship.
But in reality, McLaren unknowingly had him transfer $317,000 in savings and pensions into his own pocket.
Hall said he was a skeptical person who believed he could spot a scam.
Tracy Hall, from Sydney, was in a relationship with a man she believed was called Max Tavita in 2016. His real identity was Hamish McLaren and he was a serial scammer and love rat (the couple are pictured together).
“I saw those stories on the news and I looked at them and thought, ‘I would never fall for that,’ but here I am, I lost my life savings to a man who pretended to love me and at the same time was destroying me,” the woman told him. Mrs. Hall to Sunrise.
McLaren swindled $70 million worldwide from dozens of victims, including Australian fashion designer Lisa Ho, by posing as an investment fund manager.
In 2019 he was given a 16-year prison sentence for his crimes, which was later reduced to 12 years.
Ms Hall, who is writing a book about her experience called The Last Victim, said she wanted to share her experience to “educate people about the dangers of falling for a scam and really just help empower people around it.” their financial security and their financial vulnerability. .
“I don’t think you should approach every situation just by looking for red flags because it’s a pretty unpleasant place to live, but I think we all need to be more vigilant,” Ms Hall said.
‘There’s not a day that goes by… where you’re not exposed to some type of scam and it’s probably not the magnitude of what I experienced but every day a text message, an email.’
Ms Hall appeared on The Australian’s award-winning podcast Who The Hell Is Hamish?, which investigated how McLaren had been misleading people since the 1990s.
He previously told Sydney-based financial advisor Canna Campbell how the scam worked, claiming it was a “slow process of planting seeds.”
“He gained my trust because of the image he conveyed,” Ms. Hall said.
“The Max Tavita I knew was the chief investment officer of a family office hedge fund, so it was a story that he built over time.”
A single mother who was defrauded out of her “life savings” by serial fraudster Hamish McLaren has revealed how it happened (pictured: Tracy Hall)
McLaren (pictured) received a 16-year prison sentence in 2019 for his crimes, which was later reduced to 12 years.
He said the couple had “countless conversations about financial strategies and retirement and hedge funds.”
Mrs Hall said he spoke “very plainly” about “banks and his retirement” but because they were in a committed relationship, she thought this was all part of his experience and that he was “looking after me”.
“It was quite a while before we discussed anything to do with my retirement or my savings or anything else, but it happened slowly and at the end of the day, I trusted him,” Tracy said.
When he went to prison, Tracy had given McLaren “$317,000 of his life savings.”
“I had worked for 21 years. It was a combination of my retirement, which made up the bulk of it, and some savings I had accumulated. “It was my life savings,” Mrs Hall said.
When she realized what she had lost, Tracy said she reached her “lowest point.”
His book, The Last Victim, will be published in May.
King Con: The Life and Crimes of Hamish McLaren airs Sunday at 8pm on Channel Seven and also on 7plus.