A 73-year-old Erskine resident was almost left $300,000 out of pocket after he was targeted by an investment scam.
Wanting to invest money he recently made on a house sale, Lang Baker went to google to look at his options.
He left his contact details on a website that claimed it would find him the best return on investment.
Soon after he received a call from a man called Steve Jackson claiming to be a manager at Suncorp.
“He emailed me an application form that requested a copy of my passport, date of birth, tax file number, a recent utility bill and driver’s license,” Mr Baker said.
“All of these things are normal to get enough points to open a bank account so it did not strike me as anything unusual.”
A few days later, the scammer said Mr Baker’s application had been approved and he would email the bank guarantees from Suncorp and details on where to deposit the money.
It was not until Mr Baker googled the BSB number he became suspicious.
“When I googled the BSB it came up with the Commonwealth Bank in Sydney and I thought that’s a bit odd since he said he’s from Suncorp,” Mr Baker said.
“That prompted me to ring Suncorp and when I rang they told me it was an investment scam.
“If I had not made that one phone call, I would have lost $300,000.”
One of the fake Suncorp emails sent to Lang Baker by the scammer. Photo: Supplied.
Upon closer look, Mr Baker found out the manager of Suncorp was Steve Johnson not Jackson and the scammer used an email unlike those of legitimate Suncorp…
