‘The money that I’d worked hard for, and saved, was all taken away’: Jacob Weitering on scam

Carlton star Jacob Weitering has revealed how he was conned in an elaborate banking scam as he warns “it could happen to anyone”.

Jacob Weitering says: ‘I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen to me’. Picture: AFL Photos

Carlton star Jacob Weitering has opened up about losing his life savings in an unbelievably sophisticated phishing scam, revealing the ordeal had been so damaging it had affected his plans to start a family.

The former No. 1 draft pick said the scammers went to ­incredible lengths over seven days to get him to hand over everything he’d worked so hard for during his career.

“I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen to me, and it did. It could happen to anyone,” he said.

The 25-year-old told Hamish McLachlan in an exclusive interview in Saturday’s Herald Sun that it all started with a text message he received last September.

Weitering says scammers went to ­incredible lengths to get him to hand over everything. Picture: Getty

It said: “A suspicious transaction has been made using your accounts, please give us a call if this is not you.”

Weitering said he trusted it because it remarkably somehow appeared in an existing legitimate text message thread from his bank NAB about past suspicious transactions.

“I remember it being a Friday. So I wanted to get onto it pretty fast as I didn’t want my accounts to be drained over the weekend,” he said.

Then he received a couple of calls from a number that ­appeared as the fraud line from NAB on his phone.

“They spoke perfect English, the guy almost sounded as if he were an Englishman,” he said.

“They went through the suspicious transaction, and played on my emotions a little bit.

“It was perfect. The text, the caller ID, the blocking of the suspicious transaction.”

Weitering was told his ­accounts had been frozen but the money needed to be moved into what they called a “safeguarding account”.

Over the next week he sent amounts up to his daily transaction limit directly to the fraudsters – until all his ­accounts had been emptied.

“I sent them the money ­directly,” Weitering said. “That was the biggest mistake that I made, and that was built off the perfect role-playing at their end.

“We cleared all the ­accounts until they were empty, into what I thought was a safe account.”

Weitering said that once he had realised what had happened, he was devastated.

“It was a very significant amount of money that I’ve struggled to deal with over the last six months,” he said.

“It was that the money that I’d worked hard for, and saved, was all taken away. All gone.

“Everyone’s got to pay their bills – I’ve got a mortgage and would also like to start a family. It severely impacts those plans. I was able to process it quicker than family members and my partner, but it hasn’t been an easy process.”

The vice co-captain, who hadn’t told any of his teammates what happened because he wanted to get on with the game and with being a leader, said he was speaking out now to help others.

“It’s not just about me, it’s about families, it’s about couples, young couples, elderly people,” he said.

“It’s hard to imagine how sophisticated they are, at every step of the process.

“I felt I needed to (speak out about being a victim).

“I’m told around 70 per cent of people will not report being a victim of fraud and scams – because of embarrassment.”

Weitering bravely agreed to sit down with NAB CEO Ross McEwan for a video that will aim to educate and protect others.

Read Weitering’s full interview with Hamish McLachlan in Saturday’s Herald Sun.