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A clever bank teller managed to save a woman from transferring $2,000 to an overseas scammer who she thought was her “boyfriend”.
The woman, aged in her 60s, visited a NAB branch in Cranbourne, southeast of Melbourne, in February to send money to another account.
She told NAB client advisor Dilan Pathirannahalage that her boyfriend, whom she had not met in real life and lives in Turkey, was unwell and needed $2,000 to fly to the UK for treatment.
The first red flag was the fact that the client did not know her supposed boyfriend’s last name.
Pathirannahalage said that as she was going through his text messages trying to find his last name, he noticed that the language in his messages was very affectionate.
NAB Client Advisor Dilan Pathirannahalage (pictured) saved a woman from transferring $2000 to a scammer she thought was her boyfriend.
“The messages were very loving and seemed like they were becoming increasingly coercive,” she said.
The NAB worker took the woman to a private room to try to get to the bottom of what was happening.
She told him her boyfriend’s account had been frozen and he needed to send the money to a friend of his in Sydney, who would then transfer it.
“The reason she didn’t know who she was transferring the funds to was because she had never met the person on the other end of the line who she thought was her boyfriend, so she didn’t know his friends either,” Pathirannahalage explained. saying.
‘Although the holes in the scammer’s story were clear to me, she was blinded by her love for him.
“These criminals are cunning and take advantage of people’s kindness to steal their money.”
While Pathirannahalage was trying to explain to the woman that she had been scammed, her boyfriend called her and asked when the money would be transferred.
The NAB worker immediately contacted the fraud team to investigate and take action.
“I told him, ‘I would never do this if I were you.’ I think you’re being scammed,” he said.
The woman, aged in her 60s, visited a NAB branch in Cranbourne, southeast of Melbourne, in February to send money to another account when alarm bells started ringing (file image)
‘At the moment, customers don’t see you as someone protecting them from losing their money. You’re the person who’s breaking their hearts.’
After speaking with the woman, the bank teller said she was grateful to have been saved from losing an entire paycheck.
The number of NAB customers falling victim to romance scams has increased by 29 per cent year on year.
Australians lost $33 million to romance and friendship scams in 2023 alone, according to Scamwatch.