Aussie family left in $375k debt over Christmas after bank error
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Disclaimer: Names with an asterisk (*) have been changed for privacy purposes.
Preparing for the Christmas season will always bring a flurry of financial activity – from buying presents, and booking holiday trips, to planning feasts. And although it can be a lot to take in, the festive cheer more than makes up for the hassle.
But for one Queensland family, what was supposed to be a joyous holiday turned into an incredibly stressful time after a banking blunder resulted in them being left nearly $375,000 in debt and unable to access their funds over the Christmas period.
Aaron*, a dad-of-one from Queensland, was angry and frustrated after discovering a discrepancy in his NAB account, which had more than $108,000 of his own money sitting in it.
Because of the bank error, Aaron’s* account was overdrawn, and he couldn’t get a single cent out during the time that his funds were inaccessible.
Aaron* works as the owner of his own business, so he needed to scrounge together enough money to pay his 12 employees.
To make matters worse, the bank was unreachable because of the multiple public holidays, which impacted their ability to assign Aaron* a case officer.
He said: ‘With all the public holidays, these two weeks have been the highest amount this year for wages; it’s a 30 to 40 per cent increase in a week.’
To patch up the problem, he was forced to use all his savings just to pay for his staff’s wages. The dad took out huge business loans and sold some of his cryptocurrency assets worth $8,000.
Then, he borrowed money from his own 8-year-old daughter’s bank account which had $4,000. The money was saved from her Christmas money, payments Aaron* had initially put in, and cash from collecting recyclable cans.
However, this left him with one more problem: he had another pay run due the next week and had no more funds to give.
Luckily, once he explained the situation to his workers, they offered to go a week without pay and to just give them their salary when he can. But Aaron* refused and tried to find another way to pay his staff what they were owed.
To ensure he had enough funds the following week, Aaron* ‘raced’ to change his bank details so his clients can deposit invoices into the new account.
This raised suspicions and many questioned him if his account had been hacked, and Aaron* had to explain how his previous account was overdrawn.
‘I’ve copped enough embarrassment,’ shared Aaron*. He explained how he had to tell his clients and how they thought he was attempting to scam them of their money.
‘They’re ringing to ask why we are changing our bank account on New Year’s Eve,’ he added.
Aaron* also fell behind on repayments for a Tesla car he bought for his partner, and subsequently was unable to pick it up on time.
When Aaron* raised the issue to NAB, they initially thought it was because he recently made a big purchase.
‘He (the NAB officer) was talking about my settlement, and I said “I don’t have one”. My house settled two-and-a-half years ago, I don’t have anything to settle,’ Aaron* told reporters. NAB then thought it was a security breach, but once they looked at his bank statement, they didn’t find any suspicious activity.
After countless phone calls, a NAB employee finally told him that the issue was due to a human error where ‘a hold for an amount of $374,962 was incorrectly placed’ on his account. After that, NAB was able to lift the hold.
A spokesperson for NAB said that this was a one-off mistake and that it had not happened to anyone else ‘as far as they know’.
‘This issue was caused by a human error and the account has now been returned to normal. We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused,’ they said. They added that they are currently working with Aaron* to fix losses as a result of the issue.
If you have any tips to share about how to remain vigilant when it comes to banking errors and spotting potential financial scams, please let us know in the comments below. Stay vigilant!
Preparing for the Christmas season will always bring a flurry of financial activity – from buying presents, and booking holiday trips, to planning feasts. And although it can be a lot to take in, the festive cheer more than makes up for the hassle.
But for one Queensland family, what was supposed to be a joyous holiday turned into an incredibly stressful time after a banking blunder resulted in them being left nearly $375,000 in debt and unable to access their funds over the Christmas period.
Aaron*, a dad-of-one from Queensland, was angry and frustrated after discovering a discrepancy in his NAB account, which had more than $108,000 of his own money sitting in it.
Because of the bank error, Aaron’s* account was overdrawn, and he couldn’t get a single cent out during the time that his funds were inaccessible.
The family couldn’t enjoy their Christmas break. Credit: Ono Kosuki
Aaron* works as the owner of his own business, so he needed to scrounge together enough money to pay his 12 employees.
To make matters worse, the bank was unreachable because of the multiple public holidays, which impacted their ability to assign Aaron* a case officer.
He said: ‘With all the public holidays, these two weeks have been the highest amount this year for wages; it’s a 30 to 40 per cent increase in a week.’
To patch up the problem, he was forced to use all his savings just to pay for his staff’s wages. The dad took out huge business loans and sold some of his cryptocurrency assets worth $8,000.
Then, he borrowed money from his own 8-year-old daughter’s bank account which had $4,000. The money was saved from her Christmas money, payments Aaron* had initially put in, and cash from collecting recyclable cans.
The dad had to borrow money from his daughter’s account. Credit: Dovis/Pexels
However, this left him with one more problem: he had another pay run due the next week and had no more funds to give.
Luckily, once he explained the situation to his workers, they offered to go a week without pay and to just give them their salary when he can. But Aaron* refused and tried to find another way to pay his staff what they were owed.
To ensure he had enough funds the following week, Aaron* ‘raced’ to change his bank details so his clients can deposit invoices into the new account.
This raised suspicions and many questioned him if his account had been hacked, and Aaron* had to explain how his previous account was overdrawn.
‘I’ve copped enough embarrassment,’ shared Aaron*. He explained how he had to tell his clients and how they thought he was attempting to scam them of their money.
‘They’re ringing to ask why we are changing our bank account on New Year’s Eve,’ he added.
Aaron* also fell behind on repayments for a Tesla car he bought for his partner, and subsequently was unable to pick it up on time.
His clients thought he was scamming them. Credit: Monstera/Pexels
When Aaron* raised the issue to NAB, they initially thought it was because he recently made a big purchase.
‘He (the NAB officer) was talking about my settlement, and I said “I don’t have one”. My house settled two-and-a-half years ago, I don’t have anything to settle,’ Aaron* told reporters. NAB then thought it was a security breach, but once they looked at his bank statement, they didn’t find any suspicious activity.
After countless phone calls, a NAB employee finally told him that the issue was due to a human error where ‘a hold for an amount of $374,962 was incorrectly placed’ on his account. After that, NAB was able to lift the hold.
A spokesperson for NAB said that this was a one-off mistake and that it had not happened to anyone else ‘as far as they know’.
‘This issue was caused by a human error and the account has now been returned to normal. We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused,’ they said. They added that they are currently working with Aaron* to fix losses as a result of the issue.
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