mental health crisis after $500,000 gone
Jo’s life changed overnight. She had missed a call from her bank, CommBank, and called them back while driving to see her physio.
She learned her $500,000 divorce settlement had disappeared in an elaborate banking scam.
She had transferred five $100,000 amounts to a fake term deposit in her own name - but the money went to scammer Hassan Mehdi and his mate Muhammed Ali Waheed’s fake NAB business account in the name of Supercheap Security.
Australian banks don’t have to match names and account numbers.
Even though banks announced new Confirmation of Payee checks to alert people when names don’t match, the account terms and conditions still state that only BSB and account numbers are used to process transactions.
Jo didn’t stay silent. She sought legal help, joining a group of victims in a lawsuit against NAB for letting scammer Hassan Mehdi use a fake shell company to steal more than $1.36m.
They were met with threats, confusion, and legal intimidation. As others dropped out under pressure, Jo stood alone. Eventually, she lost in court — not because of a lack of evidence, but due to laws that protect institutions far more than individuals.
In a separate effort, Jo and her lawyer Mark Carmody successfully sued scammer Hassan Medhi in civil court for breach of director’s duties.
Medhi had operated a sham company, "Supercheap Security," to funnel stolen funds offshore. The case (O’Brien v Supercheap Securities) became a historic precedent — a rare win for fraud victims — though Medhi has not repaid any of the funds and continues to operate a business called Click Security freely.
The regulator ASIC has not taken any action against Hassan Mehdi though Jo and her lawyer have now bankrupted Hassan Mehdi for failing to pay the orders made by Justice Nixon in the NSW Supreme Court.
Betrayed Again — This Time by the System
Jo’s final hope lay with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).
Instead, she was dismissed. The preliminary assessment AFCA gave her was for $0.
Jo worked with Scam Victim Alliance to re-open the case with AFCA against her sending bank, CommBank at the end of 2024.
Jo had court documents obtained in her Supreme Court case that revealed her own bank CommBank:
Detected Jo’s scam only after 5 payments were made to the sham NAB account
Failed to tell other CommBank victims they had fallen victim to the same scam that Jo experienced
Facilitated payment to her scammer Hassan Mehdi for his role creating the NAB mule account in the name of Supercheap Security.
SVA went through the damning evidence that Jo’s lawyer spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to obtain in the Supreme Court action - which included proof that Jo’s stolen funds were laundered by NAB through UK accounts.
Most victims never have the money to get access to the evidence Jo obtained in civil litigation.
With help from Scam Victim Alliance, Jo realised AFCA would need to look at the new evidence to help recover her money from her sending bank.
Read Jo’s victim impact statement below to understand the impact AFCA conciliation and dispute resolution has on scam victims’ lives.
When the bank offered a small payout for ‘full and final settlement’, it came with a gag order. Jo, like many victims, was forced to sign an NDA, silencing her from telling the full truth.
Jo was a gifted professional runner who competed at the highest levels, running nationally and at the Pacific Games. After she was scammed, she couldn’t bring herself to run again.
The Human Cost
Jo’s words capture the devastating impact: “These scams are not just about money. The mental toll is much worse.”
She now lives with PTSD, severe depression, and chronic anxiety. Once outgoing and social, Jo now isolates herself. Her travel business — her passion and livelihood — has crumbled. The shame, financial insecurity, and lack of justice have left her struggling.
Jo’s story is a harsh indictment of a broken system — one where banks evade responsibility, scammers operate with impunity, and institutions meant to protect consumers often fail them.
Why Jo’s Story Matters
Jo’s courage in pursuing justice has already helped others. Her civil victory set legal precedent. Her willingness to speak out, even after being silenced, exposes the need for reform.
She is not alone.
At Scam Victim Alliance, we hear stories like Jo’s every day. Victims are blamed, retraumatised, and left with nothing. But we also see incredible strength — survivors like Jo who refuse to give up, even when the system fails them.
“I used to be a fun-loving, social person who trusted most people. I am now a hermit who rarely leaves the house. I barely sleep. Nothing gives me pleasure anymore.”
Despite everything, Jo continues to fight — not just for herself, but so others won’t have to go through what she did.
See Jo’s story in detail in the video and her victim impact statement below.
jo’s victim impact statement in her own words
“I was asked about a week ago to write a victim impact statement. It has taken this whole week to work up the energy to actually be able to revisit this whole nightmare, which now defines me.
“Three years ago I was one of the victims defrauded in a fake term deposit fraud. I lost almost my entire divorce settlement (500k) which I thought I was investing for two years while I tried to buy a suitable apartment to set myself up in as security for my future.
“It took all the courage I had in me to leave a 25-year marriage where I was basically 100% carer of our two children whilst running my own travel business.
“Many women would have stayed in a marriage like this out of fear of loneliness or the knowledge that they would not be able to continue to live the same standard they had become accustomed to if they left. I was proud of myself for putting my self respect above living in a big house and the financial security of being married to a man who was at the top of the tree in his career. I left the marriage at the beginning of Covid whilst my only income was my travel business.
“Although I wasn’t to know at the time the devastating impact Covid would have on the travel industry, I basically earned zero for the next two years whilst living in a tiny one bedroom flat whilst my husband stayed in the three-level family home. This whole scenario of losing so much of my divorce settlement felt like some kind of ironic joke or punishment for trying to look after my own welfare at the time.
“From the moment my money was stolen I engaged the help of a lawyer Mark Carmody who happens to be a very old family friend. We worked tirelessly with three other victims who I found via social media, trying to sue NAB for the gross negligence in their involvement in our case.
“We were bullied, threatened, confused by the bank and had no end date in sight. After fighting for over a year the other plaintiffs dropped out of the proceedings due to NAB’s threats of making us pay their legal costs (of over a million dollars) if we ended up losing in court. We had all spent thousands and thousands already on legal fees.
“I refused to give up at this point and was suddenly left by myself knowing the risk I was taking by continuing fighting the NAB. Eventually I did lose in court mainly due to Australia’s banking laws being so archaic and so heavily on the side of the bank. NAB did not ask me to pay any of their legal costs. I had no money at this point anyway.
“During this time I was being threatened by my scammers friends via Whatsapp messages. One message in particular was basically a death threat where he’d arrange his bikie contacts in Melbourne to find me and deal with me if I didn’t drop my case against Hassan Medhi. Imagine how this felt as a woman living alone?
“Without going into too much further detail, in an effort to help Australians in the future, Mr Carmody then represented me pro bono and we successfully civilly sued my scammer Hassan Medhi for breach of his Directors Duties in September 2024. (ASIC don’t seem to prosecute scammeres unless it passes a ‘public interest test’, which obviously my case didn’t meet.)
“He had used a fraudulent bank account in the name of a sham company “Supercheap Security” for the sole purpose of moving stolen money in and out to other accounts offshore. Mr Medhi was the Director of Supercheap Security and denied any involvement. We won the case easily. Mr Medhi was ordered to pay back all four plaintiffs the full amount he stole from them, all the interest the four plaintiffs have lost as well as all of all our legal fees. To this date he has not paid a cent.
“This case (O’Brien v Supercheap Securities) is now an historical precedent moving forward and is already being used in court to help victims going through what I did two years ago. This is the one good thing to come of this mess.
“I am proud to say that a Trustee will be appointed to uncover whether Hassan Mehdi has any assets which we might be entitled to in an effort to recover some funds. Of course it is highly unlikely he has anything. He was likely just a mule at the bottom of a very sophisticated chain who was paid a few thousand dollars to maintain this bank account and move the money onwards as it came in. He is still living in Truganina with his family and runs a business called Click Security.
“Knowing full well that suing Mr Medhi won’t amount to any compensation to me, my last hope of any help was always going to be AFCA.
“I honestly believed AFCA existed to protect consumers like me who are helpless against these billion dollar banks/financial institutions.
“My case from start to finish involved lies, bullying, withheld information by the banks as well as incriminating phone calls where the teller basically gives me the green light to go ahead and transfer the money. I have a laundry list of examples where I was lied to by my own bank (the CBA), the receiving bank (the NAB).
“The most frustrating fact is we now know that hundreds of thousands of my stolen money was funneled through UK bank accounts - likely in violation of AUSTRAC’s money laundering rules - after I made them aware of the scam. NAB could have easily recovered this money if they had tried even once.
“I believed with so much damming evidence which I presented to AFCA, I stood a great chance of them being able to help conciliate with my bank to return all my money.
“Instead I was made to feel like the idiot who brought all of this on myself and the bank did all they could to help me, or rather AFCA didn’t have the power to help me with any pf these banking misdemeanors.
“I was initially awarded zero dollars by my AFCA case worker. I then went to the Ombudsman who managed to bring the CBA back to the table to speak with me. In the end, the bank offered me a small percentage of what I lost provided I signed a non-disclosure agreement. This NDA prevents me from ever talking about the lies they told and the things they did or rather should have done but didn’t.
“The bank knew I had no money so of course I had to take what I was given and am now gagged to never speak of what really went on.
“Throughout this journey I always remained hopeful that if my lawyer couldn’t help me that AFCA would.
“I thought they help the victims, right?
“Not only do the banks fund AFCA’s existence, the people who work there have very little power and everyone involved knows it. AFCA seemed to me to do nothing but jump when the bank said “how high”. They are all scared of the banks, you can feel it when you are on a conciliation call. I was told multiple times by AFCA employees that they are not lawyers and the laws don’t apply here anyway and that I had little chance of recovering any money DESPITE all my evidence.
“I actually wondered why AFCA bothers to exist? Are they just a prop to fool Australians into believing they have an avenue to pursue should they ever find themselves in these devastating situations?
“The banks win every time. The police do nothing. ASIC does nothing to monitor these sham companies, the banks bully their own customers to the point of suicide in some cases and then we have AFCA who is the final nail in the coffin.
“Anyway, in case you are ACTUALLY really interested in the impact all of this has had on me personally, here is a summary for you:
“I used to be a fun loving, social person who trusted most people and formed bonds easily with other humans. I am basically now a hermit who rarely leaves the house so I can avoid having to converse with people. I don’t trust anyone anymore. I live in a hyper vigilant state of “what is going to happen next”. I am simply unable to ever feel relaxed. I barely sleep. Sometimes going for 48 hours without a wink. Nothing gives me pleasure anymore.
“I have severe depression, PTSD and anxiety. My two grown up children and my dogs are the only reason I am still here.
“I had to apply for early release of almost all of my superannuation so I wouldn’t lose my apartment. I borrowed money off my elderly parents and a girlfriend again, so I didn’t lose my apartment. I now have only a small amount of super and a very grim looking retirement, as well as the guilt and stress of not knowing how I will ever be able to pay my friend back.
“My friends, parents and worst of all my children have watched me turn into a mere shadow of the person I was. My kids have been with me when I have had panic attacks and broken down in floods of tears in public. They worry constantly about me. This is not how young adults should be living.
“I have lost 15% of my body weight, I have lost interest in everything I used to love. I have become unreliable and cancel plans all the time due to the unpredictability of my mood on the day, plus the fact that I have no money to go anywhere interesting anyway. Instead I prefer to spend most of my time alone as I feel a total burden on everyone.
“I literally hate life. There is no chance I will ever be able to have a romantic relationship again and will live the rest of my life alone with basically no money and nothing to look forward to.
“Not sure where I go to from here. These scams are not just about money. The mental toll is much worse. I hope AFCA feels some kind of shame knowing that you should be helping people like me. I think you are pathetic, heartless, gutless and useless. You have zero empathy for victims yet claim to be the exact opposite.”