Man's investigation reveals complicated web of scams after losing thousands
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Disclaimer: The names in asterisks (*) were changed for privacy purposes.
Scams have become an unfortunate part of modern life, especially for Aussies, who are often targeted by sophisticated schemes.
Yet, there's one thing people are curious about: what happens after the money leaves a victim's account?
Where does it go, and who's behind these elaborate schemes?
It all started innocently for Andy*, a 53-year-old Sydneysider and dad of two.
Like many victims, Andy fell for an online article promising significant returns from a cryptocurrency trading platform called 4AI.net.
The website looked legitimate, and the staff sounded professional during his queries.
Most of all, the promise of easy money was hard to resist.
After a few phone calls from the website's 'staff' through Australian phone numbers, Andy was convinced to invest $10,000.
He was instructed to transfer the funds to an Australian business account under the name Invent Media Pty Ltd.
The transaction should be labelled as 'professional consultancy'.
Within a day, the money appeared in his 4AI trading account.
However, weeks after investing, the 4AI.net website suddenly vanished.
Andy's $10,000 investments, along with other victims' savings, disappeared with it.
The victims' only clue about the situation was the bank account belonging to Invent Media Pty Ltd.
Determined to find out what happened, Andy enlisted the help of a private investigator.
With the help of IFW Global's Ken Gamble, Andy uncovered a story stranger than fiction.
Invent Media Pty Ltd was set up in Australia by Malek Mawlawi, a 50-year-old filmmaker based in Lebanon.
Mr Mawlawi had an impressive resume as he worked for Al Jazeera, the BBC, and Turkey's TRT.
The filmmaker was also an aspiring politician and ran for parliament in Lebanon.
He claimed he opened the Australian branch of his business to collaborate with the ABC on Middle Eastern coverage.
Mr Mawlawi insisted that he had no idea his company's bank account was used for scams.
He stated that a long-time friend convinced him to hand over control of the account to help with 'issues receiving funds from Australian clients'.
Soon after, Mr Mawlawi lost access to the company's email.
Mr Mawlawi was left in the dark as his business account got hijacked for criminal purposes.
Peter Hocking, the Sydney-based intermediary who helped set up Invent Media, noticed something was off.
He received strange emails from someone claiming to be the CEO and requesting to open new bank accounts.
When he refused, the person threatened legal action, and Hocking promptly resigned, leaving Mr Mawlawi as the sole director.
However, Mr Mawlawi's friend, who lives overseas, denied any involvement.
He called Andy's $10,000 investment 'such a small amount' and insisted that he wouldn't risk both Mr Mawlawi or his reputation for it.
Investigators, on the other hand, stated that this was a classic tactic used by international scam syndicates.
These schemers find someone with a legitimate business, gain access to their bank accounts, and use them as 'money mules' to launder stolen funds.
People around the world lost hundreds and thousands of dollars to 4AI.net before it disappeared.
One victim claimed that they lost nearly half a million Australian dollars.
These scams are often run by transnational crime gangs, who have shifted from drug and sex trafficking to online fraud in recent years.
Some scammers own crypto exchanges or have political connections, making them harder to track down.
Ken Gamble, the investigator on Andy's case, shared that stories like this come up all the time.
'That's how they get accounts; they find people with dormant companies or businesses and use them as a front,' he explained.
'Scams are high-value enterprises, and these syndicates go all the way to the top.'
After uncovering the scam, the Commonwealth Bank quickly shut down Invent Media's account.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) also launched a separate investigation into the scheme, and the matter was referred to the Australian Federal Police.
However, as is often the case, the money was long gone by the time authorities got involved.
Shaken by the experience, Mr Mawlawi vowed never to do business in Australia again.
'I stopped everything last year. I'm not doing anything in Australia after this case,' he stated.
Have you or someone you know been targeted by a similar scheme? How do you protect yourself and your hard-earned money online? Share your stories with us in the comments section below.
The SDC forum's Scam Watch section has the latest news, warnings and tactics against fraudsters.
Scams have become an unfortunate part of modern life, especially for Aussies, who are often targeted by sophisticated schemes.
Yet, there's one thing people are curious about: what happens after the money leaves a victim's account?
Where does it go, and who's behind these elaborate schemes?
It all started innocently for Andy*, a 53-year-old Sydneysider and dad of two.
Like many victims, Andy fell for an online article promising significant returns from a cryptocurrency trading platform called 4AI.net.
The website looked legitimate, and the staff sounded professional during his queries.
Most of all, the promise of easy money was hard to resist.
Several investors, including Andy, believed that 4AI was a legitimate platform. Image Credit: Pexels/Joshua Mayo
After a few phone calls from the website's 'staff' through Australian phone numbers, Andy was convinced to invest $10,000.
He was instructed to transfer the funds to an Australian business account under the name Invent Media Pty Ltd.
The transaction should be labelled as 'professional consultancy'.
Within a day, the money appeared in his 4AI trading account.
However, weeks after investing, the 4AI.net website suddenly vanished.
Andy's $10,000 investments, along with other victims' savings, disappeared with it.
The victims' only clue about the situation was the bank account belonging to Invent Media Pty Ltd.
Determined to find out what happened, Andy enlisted the help of a private investigator.
With the help of IFW Global's Ken Gamble, Andy uncovered a story stranger than fiction.
Invent Media Pty Ltd was set up in Australia by Malek Mawlawi, a 50-year-old filmmaker based in Lebanon.
Mr Mawlawi had an impressive resume as he worked for Al Jazeera, the BBC, and Turkey's TRT.
Mr Mawlawi was a public figure based in Lebanon. Image Credit: Facebook/Malek Mawlawi
The filmmaker was also an aspiring politician and ran for parliament in Lebanon.
He claimed he opened the Australian branch of his business to collaborate with the ABC on Middle Eastern coverage.
Mr Mawlawi insisted that he had no idea his company's bank account was used for scams.
He stated that a long-time friend convinced him to hand over control of the account to help with 'issues receiving funds from Australian clients'.
Soon after, Mr Mawlawi lost access to the company's email.
Mr Mawlawi was left in the dark as his business account got hijacked for criminal purposes.
Peter Hocking, the Sydney-based intermediary who helped set up Invent Media, noticed something was off.
He received strange emails from someone claiming to be the CEO and requesting to open new bank accounts.
When he refused, the person threatened legal action, and Hocking promptly resigned, leaving Mr Mawlawi as the sole director.
However, Mr Mawlawi's friend, who lives overseas, denied any involvement.
He called Andy's $10,000 investment 'such a small amount' and insisted that he wouldn't risk both Mr Mawlawi or his reputation for it.
Investigators, on the other hand, stated that this was a classic tactic used by international scam syndicates.
These schemers find someone with a legitimate business, gain access to their bank accounts, and use them as 'money mules' to launder stolen funds.
People around the world lost hundreds and thousands of dollars to 4AI.net before it disappeared.
One victim claimed that they lost nearly half a million Australian dollars.
These scams are often run by transnational crime gangs, who have shifted from drug and sex trafficking to online fraud in recent years.
Some scammers own crypto exchanges or have political connections, making them harder to track down.
Ken Gamble, the investigator on Andy's case, shared that stories like this come up all the time.
'That's how they get accounts; they find people with dormant companies or businesses and use them as a front,' he explained.
'Scams are high-value enterprises, and these syndicates go all the way to the top.'
After uncovering the scam, the Commonwealth Bank quickly shut down Invent Media's account.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) also launched a separate investigation into the scheme, and the matter was referred to the Australian Federal Police.
However, as is often the case, the money was long gone by the time authorities got involved.
Shaken by the experience, Mr Mawlawi vowed never to do business in Australia again.
'I stopped everything last year. I'm not doing anything in Australia after this case,' he stated.
The SDC forum's Scam Watch section has the latest news, warnings and tactics against fraudsters.
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