NSW Do I have a case against bank?

[Roustam]

Hi,

In July this year I got contacted by a guy, who pretended to be a builder about my building job I published on online. He scammed a total of around $28,000, which were transferred to an ANZ account on 22nd and 24th of July. I've contacted ANZ on 2nd of August, saying the their account holder scammed money from me.

ANZ refused to take any evidence (email communications, police report number from me) saying that my claim about him being a scammer is a speculation. I've been chasing them, but their fraud investigation department refused to speak to me. I found out that the guy scammed at least 3 people in NSW along and is also being investigated in Queensland and Victoria.

ANZ did nothing about this and just waited for police to contact them. They claim, that they did not know that the guy scammed multiple people.
I believe this is a lame excuse, because I knew that, which means they could easily find out.

My friend worked in a fraud investigation department in a gambling company, and there are so many things they can do to stop criminals to use their system for money laundering and other crimes.

In my view ANZ passively assisted the scammer by not taking action for many weeks (and possibly months) allowing the scammer to rob many people.
I want to compensate me for their inaction and raise it with FOS. Do I stand any chance? What else I can do?

My best outcome would be to recover the money. My second best would be to have the guy in jail. I've reported this to the police nearly two months ago, but police are really lazy. All they did was requesting the address of the account holder and the mobile number owner. They found these are two different people with addresses in different states and that the account holder did not cross Australian border in or out for years. They assumed he must be operating from overseas.

Is there a way to get police to do their job? Is there any point engaging a collection agency?

 

[Nathaniel Hall]

What you need to do first is to organise with ANZ to change your banking details and request a trace on the money that has been taken from you. Your next action should be going to your local police station and making a report/complaint in relation to this matter along with a report to ACORN. ANZ will then have their relevant department converse with police to obtain evidence against the person of interest.

If you find that the police and bank are unwilling to assist you I would advise that you get in contact with the Australian Financial Prudential Authority to report ANZ for not following up on this matter and also contacting the police ombudsman to make a complaint for maladministration / neglect of investigation.

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

The argument between yourself and the 'builder' has nothing to do with the ANZ. They're simply the account holder for a person you have claimed is a 'scammer'. Several things are in play here:

1. Only a court of law can determine that this person is a criminal. Until that happens, all you have is an allegation that he has acted illegally. The bank is right not to take action based off what you've told them;
2. Your report could have triggered what is called a 'suspicious matter' report under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AMLCTF) legislation. These reports go to the government intelligence agency AUSTRAC and are bound by strict secrecy requirements. By law, the ANZ couldn't even tell you if they'd lodged such a report; and
3. Good luck getting the police interested. Generally, they're not unless you're (a) lucky, (b) complaining about a big enough dollar value (6 figures range) or (c) the issue has a high profile.

Your best bet for getting anywhere is to take civil action against this guy, if you can find him.

 

[NeedHelp77]

Your best bet for getting anywhere is to take civil action against this guy, if you can find him.

I am in a similar situation with $60,000 loss to scammers. I only have their bank account details which is BSB and Account Number. Is there a way to get the details of the account holder such as his contact details and address? I believe the court can order this but what is the form to apply to the court?