War veteran loses $18,000 to elaborate scam

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A 71-year-old war veteran has been left with nothing after he fell victim to an elaborate Netflix scam, allegedly at the hands of a teenager.

Shane Arnold was robbed of $18,000 when he thought he was entitled to a refund after receiving a fake Netflix email.

After he entered his personal banking details, the accused scammer allegedly gathered enough information to call Arnold the following day, posing as a security officer from Commonwealth Bank.

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Shane Arnold was robbed of $18,000 when he thought he was entitled to a refund after receiving a fake Netflix email. scams

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"(It was) extremely convincing," Arnold told 9News.

"He spoke in a posh English accent."

Little did the grandfather know that he was allegedly speaking to 19-year-old Kahlid Mahamud, from the Melbourne suburb of Braybrook, whose voice had been disguised with AI.

Arnold was allegedly told his account had been compromised and ordered to put his bank cards in a bag, to be collected by a driver.

Hours later, the accused teen allegedly withdrew thousands of dollars from ATMs in North Melbourne, Braybrook and West Footscray, and purchased dozens of gift cards from Kmart.

He then allegedly filled up at Ampol and bought a strawberry milk drink and Magnum ice cream, and also purchased a new iPhone.

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Kahlid Mahamud, a 19-year-old from the Melbourne suburb of Braybrook, has been charged. Netflix scam

Mahamud has been charged over the incident, and while his case has just started, Arnold is fighting to get his money back.

"I've worked for 50-odd years to get that money," he said, adding he felt "like my heart had been ripped out".

Arnold claims the bank is partly to blame, and has lodged a report to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

He said the Commonwealth Bank has only offered to reimburse him $1000, adding that everyone who'd been scammed deserved to have their money returned to them.

"I hope all those people get their money back," he said.

"None of them deserved to be scammed and none of them did anything wrong."

CBA said Arnold's case was being managed by AFCA.