Kingaroy NAB’s vigilant adviser blocks $100K scam in car purchase

A bank customer thought she was days away from taking home her brand new $100,000 car, instead she was in the process of handing her life savings over to a criminal.

Kingaroy NAB Customer Advisor Sara Parfett

A woman thought she was days away from taking home her brand new $100,000 car instead she was in the process of handing her life savings over to a criminal.

The woman visited the NAB Kingaroy branch earlier this month, ready to transfer her savings to her dealership for a new car.

When the customer handed over the invoice to customer adviser Sara Parfett, Ms Parfett asked her a question.

“The first thing I always ask is, ‘Have you double checked the details with the dealership?’,” Ms Parfett said.

“The customer responded that she hadn’t.”

Ms Parfett said upon closer inspection, she noticed the email did not resemble the typical communications she usually receives from dealerships.

“It had a couple of different ads put on there, it didn’t reference the type of vehicle she was buying, it just referenced the six-figure price and bank account details,” she said.

“It didn’t add up, I knew I needed to get in contact with the dealership.”

Ms Parfett said she spoke in person with the dealership employee who had been handling the customer’s purchase.

“I ran him through the details on the invoice and he confirmed that they were not correct,” she said.

“He hadn’t even sent her an email that day.”

Kingaroy NAB Customer Adviser Sara Parfett

Ms Parfett joined NAB about five months ago and said the training she received helped her spot red flags.

“It might take a little bit longer, and we might need to ask some more questions, but we’re doing it to keep the customer safe,” she said.

After preventing the payment, Ms Parfett explained to the customer what had happened and that her money was “not going anywhere”.

“She was shocked that she actually had an email come through that was not real,” Ms Parfett said.

Ms Parfett worked with the dealership to get the correct invoice details to ensure the customer was able to pay for and pick up her dream car.

NAB group investigations executive Chris Sheehan said invoice scams, also known as payment redirection or business email compromise scams, were often incredibly subtle and sophisticated.

“They occur when criminals hack into a business’ email account and change the account details on legitimate invoices,” Mr Sheehan said.

Mr Sheehan said real estate, legal and construction sectors are “traditional targets”.

He said Scamwatch had received recent reports from car dealerships, travel companies and their customers.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest Targeting Scams Report indicated Australians lost $92 million to payment redirection scams last year.