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A phone scammer has been convinced to stop pretending to be a bank clerk to reveal his real location, accent and even offer to ‘meet’ his intended victim to spend ill-gotten gains.
Brisbane-based snake catcher Bryce Lockett posted a TikTok on Tuesday of a phone conversation he had with the scammer, who identified himself as ‘Eric’ of Queensland-based Suncorp bank.
Lockett, 27, told Daily Mail Australia that he posted the TikTok, which has been viewed more than 1.5 million times, under his account name of Bryce Grylls to showcase the techniques scammers use.
“This was all to show how they work and operate and what to look for,” Lockett said.
“Actually, he was catching a snake when he called, so doing both at the same time is pretty satisfying!”
‘Eric’ told Mr. Lockett that he worked for Suncorp’s ‘financial advisory and fraud investigation team’ and was calling from the Sunshine State to tell him that his account had been flagged with six suspicious transactions on a site called crypto. com.
The scammer said he needed Mr Grylls to verify his identity to stop the transactions and that he would provide a “call reference number”.
Mr. Lockett played along until he abruptly challenged the man by saying ‘you’re pretty good at running scams yourself’.
‘Excuse me, sir,’ ‘Eric’ said politely with a thick British accent.
‘I don’t cheat sir. I work in the bank.
‘You do not? Because this is the third time this has happened to me and I’ve called Suncorp every time already,” Lockett said.
There’s a brief pause before the man answers with a decidedly broader British accent.
‘You wouldn’t even believe I’m fucking from Scotland, would you?’ she says with a laugh.
I’m not even from Australia.
Brisbane snake catcher Bryce Lockett convinced a phone scammer to drop the pretense of being a bank clerk to reveal his real location, accent and even offer to ‘meet’.
Lockett laughs and says, “Nice try, bro.”
Now that his true identity has been discovered, the scammer asks, “What’s Australia like?”
“Damn,” Mr. Lockett replies.
Unbelievably, the scammer says that he would like to “come to Australia someday” and that the couple should meet.
“Well, if you’d stop ripping off all my money, I’d take you everywhere,” Lockett said.
The scammer said he needed Mr Grylls to verify his identity to stop the transactions and that he would provide a “call reference number”.
Unfazed by the accusation, the scammers say, ‘Bro, I’m going to rip off everyone else’s money. I’m going to take you.
Lockett then questions why the man feels the need to con others.
“I make a lot of money doing it, sir,” he says.
“You make money, but everyone else loses their money,” says Mr. Lockett.
“I don’t give a damn,” says the con man cruelly.
‘I’m not going to meet them even once in my life. They’re not going to benefit me…they get the money back from Suncorp, so it’s okay.’
Mr. Lockett, here seen with a python, says he might not have been as courteous to the scammer if he hadn’t been in front of customers.
Lockett said the scammer had used all the normal terminology a Suncorp employee would use and that on other occasions scammers had called him showing the bank’s number.
Unfortunately, the fraudulent transactions ‘Eric’ was talking about occurred a few weeks earlier.
His card was ‘skimmed’ and around $1000 worth of gift cards was spent. He is currently in talks with Suncorp to get the money back.
He reflected on his exchange with “Eric” saying that “it’s a pretty sad time that we live in with this kind of 21st century bank robber.”
“The call went much better than I normally take, since I was in front of customers at the time,” Lockett said.