Too Good to be True

Tracy Hall thought she had found the perfect man. What she’d actually found was someone who knew how to be exactly what she was looking for.

Key points:

Tracy Hall was no different from many women her age. With over 25 years as a marketing executive, separated for a year, and parenting a five-year-old, she was ready to meet someone.

Her dip into the online dating pool brought her to Max Tavita, a surfer and finance expert, who within two years would scam her out of $317 000.

“No one thinks it’s gonna happen to them. And I was certainly one of those people as well.”

The man that Tracy had been in a relationship with for 18 months, taken family holidays with, and was planning a future with, would turn out to be renowned con-man Hamish McLaren. One of Australia’s most notorious conmen, Mclaren was arrested for scamming 15 victims out of $7.6 million.

“I woke up one morning to a Crime Stoppers video of an unidentified man being arrested… I knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was my boyfriend.”

Step by step

Over an eighteen month period, McLaren had laid the ground work, building trust and an identity that Tracy fully believed.

This would lead her to take his advice, moving her superannuation into a self-managed super fund to which he had full access.

As she shares with ‘She Wasn’t Born Yesterday’ hosts Jenni and Janet, Tracy did as much research as she could but missed some of the red flags.

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One of the signs she missed was the fact that Max Tavita did not have a digital footprint.

“That is one massive red flag if you are dating somebody. I just dismissed that because I did ask him and he had an answer for everything. And they were very quick answers, that were very detailed.”

Red flag indicators, such as lack of a digital footprint, could suggest fraudulent intentions.

Over a year, McLaren built up a very believable world in which he was a financial expert, managing multiple portfolios for clients, trading on the stock market, talking money with assurance.

From all that Tracy could see, this was reality and he seemed the perfect person to provide advice about what to do with her money.

“He had set this world up over a period of almost a year to have me believe that he was exactly who he said he was.”

From there, Tracy would follow McLaren’s advice about moving her superannuation into a self-managed fund.

Trusting that he had her best interests at heart, she drew a cheque made out to his account, rather than her new self-managed account.

“He put that cheque into a washing account of his. It never went into my name.”

“When it comes to scams and fraud, the most intelligent thing we can do as humans is to humbly accept that it could happen to us.”

The impact

Tracy would never get her money back and over the following two years, she would take a journey to understanding more about who McLaren actually was and what motivated him.

“He has no care or compassion for anybody else. He never thought about the impact this would have on people.”

Asked by Jenni about the impact on her sense of self, Tracy shared that it took five years to work through the shame and loneliness of the experience. It affected her trust in herself and her decision-making abilities,

“I made those decisions, and they were the worst decisions of my life. Being able to trust myself to make good decisions and trust my intuition has been really difficult.”

Listen to this episode of ‘She Wasn’t Born Yesterday’ in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.

Offering support

If you are concerned that a friend or family member may be vulnerable to a similar scam, the best approach is a gentle one.

Remembering that the relationship has probably been built over a long time, come alongside and express your concerns.

As Tracy shares, “It might take them a long period of time to see the truth for what it is.”

Listen to this episode of ‘She Wasn’t Born Yesterday’ in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.

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