Need to know
- In a little over an hour, a fraudster ran up around $19,000 in unauthorised credit card charges, which NAB now expects Brian and his wife to pay off
- The bank says the scam victims must have somehow given the criminal their PIN, but the couple steadfastly deny that this is the case
- To the scam victims, the bank’s reasoning for refusing to reimburse their money is absurd, but it's an open and shut case for NAB
The fraudster moved fast. In a little over an hour, they accessed $2000 in cash from an ATM, paid for a meal at McDonalds at The Strand in Sydney, then went on a shopping spree at the nearby Apple and JB HiFi stores, charging a total of around $17,000 to the credit card account of Sydney pensioner Brian and his wife.
The jig was up for the fraudster, but they had gotten away with plenty
Shortly after the electronics binge, National Australia Bank (NAB) caught on to the suspicious activity and blocked the card. The fraudster called the bank posing as the legitimate cardholder and tried to have the block removed, but the bank wasn't buying it.
Then, posing as an NAB employee, they called the cardholder, Brian, for the same purpose. This is when Brian first realised that his credit card account had been breached. The jig was up for the fraudster, but they had gotten away with plenty.
Bank blames the victims
It's an open and shut case as far as NAB is concerned – they have refused to reimburse the roughly $19,000 that was charged to Brian and his wife's joint credit card account. But to Brian, the bank's reasoning sinks to the level of absurdity.
In correspondence with Brian, the bank claims that because the criminal had the PIN information, the 'balance of probability' indicates that the couple must have failed to protect it. NAB maintains it made no errors that contributed to the loss and couldn't have acted to prevent it. Therefore the bank absolves itself entirely, despite the fact that banks have historically not been in a position to prevent untold numbers of banking scams.
As it stands, they're faced with the galling prospect of paying off a steep credit card bill run up by a criminal
Brian and his wife are sure their credit cards were always in their possession, and neither had shared their PIN with anyone.
As it stands, they're faced with the galling prospect of paying off a steep credit card bill run up by a criminal.
It may have been skimming
Brian theorises that his credit card may have been skimmed when he used it at an NAB ATM. With a physical skimming incident, devices are installed on ATMs or other point-of-sale terminals by criminals. The device captures the card number and other data as well as the PIN. The criminals then create fake credit cards and charge people's accounts.
But old-school physical skimming has evolved into digital skimming, where criminals infect websites and other platforms that accept credit card payments with malicious code that steals the details. The malware can go unnoticed for a long time. Whether it was a physical or digital skimming incident in Brian's case, or a skimming incident at all, remains unknown.
They've implied that because we're old or something, we may have somehow attached our PIN numbers to our credit cards
Scam victim Brian
What Brian does know is that, in his view, his 55 years of loyalty to NAB has been rewarded with callous indifference. In a 'goodwill gesture', the bank offered the couple $1000 to make the matter go away, a move Brian describes as "pathetic".
"They've implied that because we're old or something, we may have somehow attached our PIN numbers to our credit cards. It's as if they've never heard of skimming," Brian says.
Brian is also sure of another detail: neither his or wife's credit card had ever gone missing.
NAB says protect your PIN
Brian believes he has presented a case to NAB that proves that he and his wife did not violate the bank's requirement that cardholders not reveal their PIN to anyone.
NAB retail executive Tony Story tells CHOICE the bank "is committed to protecting our customers from fraud" but suggests Brian and his wife must have somehow given their PIN to the fraudster.
Sharing or inadvertently disclosing your PIN – including through phishing scams – can compromise your account and may breach the card protection terms and conditions
NAB retail executive Tony Story
"While we cannot comment on individual cases for privacy reasons, we remind all customers of the importance of keeping their PINs secure. Sharing or inadvertently disclosing your PIN – including through phishing scams – can compromise your account and may breach the card protection terms and conditions."
Story says customers who are aware that they've revealed their PIN should contact the bank.
"If you believe you've been scammed or your PIN has been exposed, please contact NAB immediately. We will investigate and support you through the process."
In the first four months of 2025, Australians reported around $119 million in losses to the ACCC's Scamwatch service. Most of the money was stolen through phishing scams, where scammers impersonate government agencies, financial institutions and other businesses. Total scam losses in 2024 reported to the ACCC and other agencies was around $2 billion.
Pinning their hopes on AFCA
Brian and his wife have escalated the case to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), but Brian is worried that he's just one of hundreds of thousands looking for a fair outcome. (AFCA received 100,745 complaints in 2024–25.)
"It seems like everyone's overwhelmed, including the banks. And they just seem to fob people off to AFCA."
Brian acknowledges that NAB has been generally reasonable to deal with throughout the complaint process, though one representative did imply that because the couple was of a certain generation, they were less likely to keep their credit card details safe. Brian and his wife bristled at the suggestion.
The whole process has been stressful because they're basically saying I'm a liar and a fraudster and I'm not
Scam victim Brian
The ongoing point of contention is that the bank refuses to reimburse their stolen funds, which is a significant financial blow for the couple. Then there's the problem of not being believed when insisting that they know how to keep their credit card details secure.
In Brian's view, he and his wife have been summarily dismissed. "The whole process has been stressful because they're basically saying I'm a liar and a fraudster and I'm not."
In a letter outlining the case for the local police department, Brian and his wife got right to the point, saying NAB's "failure to take responsibility for their grossly inadequate systems and provide answers to our legitimate questions is tantamount to supporting the criminal perpetrators".
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