The ‘sickening gut punch’ when you learn you’ve been scammed

It started, as so many modern crimes do, with a Google search.

Retired New Zealand couple Sharon* and Derek* were trying to squeeze the most from their modest savings, and were shopping around for the
best term deposit interest rates.

They entered their contact details into a site purporting to offer comparisons, and were soon called by someone who introduced himself as Daniel Evans, a senior compliance officer at Westpac Investments.

Evans, communicating by phone and with emails with Westpac signatures and the bank’s name in the email address, suggested they look at the attractive terms on offer from his High Yield Fixed Return Emerging Market Fund. A glossy prospectus followed.

On January 26, as directed by Evans, Sharon and Derek sent $400,000 to a Westpac account in Australia. Sharon said the correlation between the bank and the investment manager gave her confidence.

“The fact it was a genuine Westpac account actually gave enormous credibility,” she said.

It was mid-February when Sharon and Daniel Googled again, this time to double-check what they’d invested in.

They found that just weeks before they’d sent their life savings offshore, Westpac had issued a formal warning that its name was being spoofed and the High Yield Fixed Return Emerging Market Fund was a scam.

Sharon said the realisation she been defrauded took a few moments to dawn: “The first hit is denial and disbelief -…