quackademic

What a great story.

Scammers accessed Age pensioner Ian Williams’ debit card details & withdrew $1,338, which is 5.5% of his annual income. He provided proof to his bank (NAB) but they did not accept responsibility or refund his money.

So he sued the bank - on his own, without legal representation - for 5.5% of their annual profit. That’s $379,005,000.

The bank did not respond to the case. He won.

On appeal to the Supreme Court the case was dismissed on technicalities & Mr Williams ordered to pay the bank’s legal costs.

Only after the story was widely publicised did the bank do what they should have done from the start: refund Mr Williams’ $1,338 & offer him an apology. They also waived their claim to costs.

Dragged kicking & screaming to basic ethical business practice. It’s a good look, NAB. We see you.

#bank #scam #megaprofit #NationalAustraliaBank

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-22/ian-williams-on-why-he-sued-nab-bank/106093720?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Ian's bank blamed him when he was scammed. He sued for $379m

Ian Williams has brought a whole new meaning to "taking on the big guy". When scammers stole from the pensioner the bank blamed him. So he launched a $379 million lawsuit to "make it right".

Feb 22 at 12:06amWeb
Show threadDingoFeb 22
@26pglt
The hero we need, for real.
Show threadJohnnoFeb 22
@26pglt I would have been more inclined to believe the Bank's apology, if as well as the original $1,338, the bank had doubled the amount to add meaning to their apology - that really would have cost them nothing.
Show threadBrialaFeb 22
@26pglt They should have taken 5.5% off the CEO and given it to him. Then they should have sacked the people who set the policy that meant they denied him recompense in the first place.
Show threadGjeFeb 22
@26pglt really?
Show threadmillennial fulcrumFeb 22
@26pglt hang on. why is the bank exempt from the fucking law?
Show threadGary HoustonFeb 22

@26pglt I'm curious about the technical details, but so is the reporter:

"Just what the process was in the scam that snared Mr Williams remains unclear but it appears the scammers were able to access his card details and add them to a new Google Pay wallet on their own phone."

Edit: If you have a photo of a card, can you set it up in Google Pay? It would make an easy scam.

Show threadLooking for explanations…Feb 22

@26pglt

It is a great story, and good on him for persisting, but… the stress & effort that cost him probably contributed to his stroke. It might have been “wiser” not to have bothered, which is exactly what the banks and other big companies count on. Even government departments like Centrelink & NDIS.

Politicians and other public servants must be forced to remember that they are indeed, public servants. Legislating to protect the interests of the public is a politician’s job. The fact that we don’t have the same protections in place as in the UK is just wrong.

Show threadSlashlineFeb 23

@26pglt

Same thing happened to me, except even easier to prove. I mailed in my federal income tax with a check. It was stolen at the Post Office by a government employee and cashed at Chase Bank. I didn't know until the IRS told me I was late, months later.
My bank, PNC, stonewalled me for 9 months while I started reporting them to all the watchdog agencies. They finally credited me.
Months later, Trump disbanded every agency I used.