Don’t let them trick you! One retiree lost $140,000, but here’s how you can stay safe
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Retiree ‘tricked’ out of $140,746 as more Aussies fall victim to scams
A Tasmanian retiree thought he had stumbled across a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Instead, he lost the savings he had been putting aside to build a granny flat.
Now, his story serves as a warning to others as scammers continue to target Australians with increasingly sophisticated schemes.
It began when 69-year-old Peter Riseley came across what looked like a legitimate advert online.
The promotion claimed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had invested $52 million into a new trading platform and encouraged everyday Australians to join.
Believing the offer was genuine, Riseley decided to take a chance with US$250.
He said the platform quickly showed results.
‘I only started with US$250, and they started trading on the platform with commodities, and I made $52 just overnight,’ Riseley told Yahoo Finance.
The fast returns helped convince him the scheme was real.
The scammers called him several times a day, always from different numbers.
Although he became suspicious, they assured him this was because they were part of a call centre.
They encouraged him to trust them—and to keep investing more of his money.
Riseley said the fraudsters told him that the Australian dollar was weakening against the US dollar.
They insisted he would make far more profit trading commodities through their system than by leaving his money in a bank account.
‘Then they encourage you to put more money in and exchange it into US dollars to trade on the commodities,’ he explained.
When he hit his bank’s $5,000 daily withdrawal limit, the scammers coached him on how to raise it.
‘When the bank security team questioned the increase, they coached me on what to say to them as well,’ he said.
This allowed them to siphon even more of his funds.
They also pressured him to download an app that gave them remote access to his device.
At one point, they transferred $40,000 directly from his bank account into the platform without him taking any action.
Within two months, Riseley had handed over $140,746.
He later filed a complaint with NAB and prepared a police report but said he had been unable to recover the money.
The funds had been intended to build a granny flat on his property—plans that have now been abandoned.
NAB’s Executive Group Investigations, Chris Sheehan, said the bank had been investing ‘heavily’ in scam prevention measures.
Scams don’t always come in the form of flashy investment platforms—sometimes they appear to be official messages from trusted institutions.
The same tactics of urgency and false authority are used to pressure people into clicking links or sharing personal details.
One recent case highlights how even Medicare and Centrelink are being impersonated in dangerous new schemes.
Read more: Centrelink and Medicare warn Australians of new data scam risk
Losing hard-earned savings to a scam is devastating—but how many more Australians will fall into the same trap before stronger protections are in place?
A Tasmanian retiree thought he had stumbled across a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Instead, he lost the savings he had been putting aside to build a granny flat.
Now, his story serves as a warning to others as scammers continue to target Australians with increasingly sophisticated schemes.
It began when 69-year-old Peter Riseley came across what looked like a legitimate advert online.
The promotion claimed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had invested $52 million into a new trading platform and encouraged everyday Australians to join.
Fake trading platform cost retiree $140,000. Image source: Pexels/cottonbro studio | Disclaimer: This is a stock image used for illustrative purposes only and does not depict the actual person, item, or event described.
Believing the offer was genuine, Riseley decided to take a chance with US$250.
He said the platform quickly showed results.
‘I only started with US$250, and they started trading on the platform with commodities, and I made $52 just overnight,’ Riseley told Yahoo Finance.
The fast returns helped convince him the scheme was real.
The scammers called him several times a day, always from different numbers.
Although he became suspicious, they assured him this was because they were part of a call centre.
They encouraged him to trust them—and to keep investing more of his money.
Riseley said the fraudsters told him that the Australian dollar was weakening against the US dollar.
They insisted he would make far more profit trading commodities through their system than by leaving his money in a bank account.
‘Then they encourage you to put more money in and exchange it into US dollars to trade on the commodities,’ he explained.
When he hit his bank’s $5,000 daily withdrawal limit, the scammers coached him on how to raise it.
‘When the bank security team questioned the increase, they coached me on what to say to them as well,’ he said.
This allowed them to siphon even more of his funds.
They also pressured him to download an app that gave them remote access to his device.
At one point, they transferred $40,000 directly from his bank account into the platform without him taking any action.
Within two months, Riseley had handed over $140,746.
He later filed a complaint with NAB and prepared a police report but said he had been unable to recover the money.
The funds had been intended to build a granny flat on his property—plans that have now been abandoned.
NAB’s Executive Group Investigations, Chris Sheehan, said the bank had been investing ‘heavily’ in scam prevention measures.
Scams don’t always come in the form of flashy investment platforms—sometimes they appear to be official messages from trusted institutions.
The same tactics of urgency and false authority are used to pressure people into clicking links or sharing personal details.
One recent case highlights how even Medicare and Centrelink are being impersonated in dangerous new schemes.
Read more: Centrelink and Medicare warn Australians of new data scam risk
Losing hard-earned savings to a scam is devastating—but how many more Australians will fall into the same trap before stronger protections are in place?
