Case study of a Superannuation scam
Here is an example of how not knowing the rules of super can get people into trouble.
Case Study:
Kim was desperate to pay off her car loan and her huge credit card debt. She knew there was $30,000 sitting in her super fund. She really wanted to get that money now, not in years to come. She saw an ad in her local paper saying she could get hold of her superannuation money now and phoned the number.
Greg answered her call and said all she needed to do was to sign some papers to transfer the money into his self-managed super fund. Then Greg could give Kim 90% of the $30,000 and he would only take 10% commission. Kim thought this was a great idea so she signed the papers.
A few weeks later Kim had still not received the $27,000 that Greg said he would give her. She thought this was strange but decided the money would come soon. Then Kim got a call from the Australian Taxation Office letting her know she was up for a big tax bill as she had accessed her super.
She also got a call from an ASIC investigator who had received complaints from other people in Greg's self-managed super fund who had not received any of their money. The investigator told Kim it was illegal to get hold of super funds before you had retired and she was questioned about her dealings with Greg.
The investigator then sent her the real bank statements from Greg's fund. Greg had withdrawn all her money and there was nothing left.
The truth was that Greg had a gambling problem and ran the scam to fund it. Greg was already bankrupt so there wasn't much hope that Kim would get her money back.
Please take care in all transactions.
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