NAB Bank issues urgent warning after woman nearly loses $50,000 in alarming new scam

By CAITLIN POWELL FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 04:34 BST, 11 June 2025 | Updated: 05:31 BST, 11 June 2025

A quick-thinking bank team saved an 84-year-old widow from losing $50,000 by stepping in just in time to stop a scammer trying to trick her. 

The widow, named Stella, walked into her local NAB branch in East Maitland, New South Wales, in late February while on the phone.

She appeared visibly nervous and asked staff to raise her daily transfer limit from $5,000 to $50,000, claiming she needed to send money to her son. 

Hunter Valley customer advisor Tiffany Bailey said she immediately became suspicious when the person on the phone hung up as soon as she spoke. 

‘Alarm bells started ringing for me straight away,’ she said on Wednesday, adding that she knew something wasn’t right.

Ms Bailey searched the phone number and the results suggested it was linked to a known scam. 

‘That’s when we were able to sit down with Stella and ask what was really going on,’ she said.

‘Stella burst into tears, telling us she was being threatened by a man claiming to be from a major tech company.

NAB employees Tiffany Bailey (left) and Vanessa Kruger (right) stepped in at the last minute when a widow on the phone to an alleged scammer requested to change her banking limit

‘He’d been pressuring her for days into making a $50,000 transfer to settle an outstanding debt.’

The NAB advisor said Stella’s adult son, who was waiting at the front of the branch, had no idea she was being scammed.

The bank also said the alleged criminal had remote access to the widow’s computer and created images that convinced her she owed money to the scammer.

Branch manager Vanessa Kruger said the unknown perpetrator had coached Stella on what to say to bank staff.

When the unknown man started calling Stella again, Ms Kruger answered the phone.

‘I told him that we were from NAB and we were on to him,’ she said.

‘I told him to stop calling Stella and leave her alone. We’d also be reporting him to police. 

‘He hung up straight away like a spineless coward.’

The widow said she was harrassed by a man claiming she owed $50,000 in debt (stock image)

No money was taken and NAB put a temporary block on Stella’s accounts.

The bank’s fraud operations team also advised Stella to have her computer professionally cleaned.

Consumer watchdog ACCC issued a warning to Australians after the incident to be aware of such schemes.

‘A remote access scam will begin with a contact out of the blue from someone who sounds pretty professional, telling you that there’s something wrong with one of your accounts,’ deputy chair Catriona Lowe said.

‘They are going to ask you to download software that will enable them to take control of your computer.’

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NAB Bank issues urgent warning after woman nearly loses $50,000 in alarming new scam

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