https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-27/superannuation-scam-hostplus-fraud-afca-c...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.