‘Heartbroken’: Dark twist after woman wins dream car

Winning a dream car has turned into a nightmare for one Victorian woman after a late night visit from a repo man exposed a dark secret.

Amelia Conway was stoked to win the Widebody Y62 Nissan Patrol in an online giveaway. Picture: Supplied

Amelia Conway was left “heartbroken” earlier this month when her dream car was taken away during a late night visit by a repo man.

The 22-year-old hairdresser from Colac, Victoria, won the $100,000 4WD in an online charity raffle organised by Hello Lifestyle Australia.

Ms Conway, who bought $120 worth of tickets to enter the draw, was overjoyed when her name was read out as the winner of the modified Widebody Y62 Nissan Patrol and all associated on-road costs.

She and her sister were flown to Queensland by Hello Lifestyle Australia to retrieve her newly won car. They drove the vehicle back down to their home in Victoria.

Amelia Conway was stoked to win the Widebody Y62 Nissan Patrol in an online giveaway. Picture: Supplied

However, her joy was short-lived.

When she attempted to transfer the vehicle into her name and get it registered in Victoria, it turned out the car was still under finance.

Then, on February 1, it was repossessed.

“Randomly, without me knowing anything, at 8pm last night a guy showed up to repossess the car,” Ms Conway posted to Facebook the following morning.

Her attempts to contact Hello Lifestyles Australia for clarification about the transfer of the vehicle to her name and the payment of all on-road costs have gone unanswered.

“So the Patrol is gone and I am trying to gather information through other people that have won anything through Hello Lifestyle Australia to take it a lot further,” she said.

But the car was later repossessed. Picture: Supplied

Ms Conway’s ordeal has left her stripped of her dream car and out of pocket by about $1000 in on-road costs.

“It’s not fair on myself or anyone else that has won anything through this company. It’s just heartbreaking,” she said.

Victoria Police confirmed it is investigating the matter.

Hello Lifestyle is a company that advertised itself as “proudly supporting” the Christian youth charity Red Frogs via regular giveaways of customised four-wheel drives, Ducati motorcycles and overseas holidays.

The company that customised the vehicles which were raffled off but had no involvement in running the raffle reportedly alleges that Hello Lifestyle Australia owes it tens of thousands of for unpaid work.

Amelia Conway was gutted by the ordeal. Picture: Supplied

Red Frogs’ chief operational officer Steve Davies confirmed that Hello Lifestyle Australia had hoped to donate $150,000 – but had fallen far short.

“They did pay us a small amount on that [first] raffle but that was all we ever got off them,” he told the ABC.

“They did subsequent raffles and we never got anything.”

Hello Lifestyle Australia’s website and all social media channels have since been shut down.

Hello Lifestyle Australia has been contacted for comment.