A tree lopper was forced to hunt down heartless thieves who blew $14,000 of his money on a gratuitous spending spree after his bank blamed him for being scammed by the criminals.
Melbourne arborist Walter Vantilburg, 59, went hunting the crooks himself after he noticed seven unauthorised transactions at five different Melbourne JB Hi-Fi stores.
Mr Vantilburg said he discovered the unauthorised transactions while he was in his bank accounts paying an employee in September. He was initially hopeful his money would be saved when he rang Bendigo Bank as many of the transactions were still pending.
"The card never leaves me or my wallet. I use it for fuel, it's really a business card, that's the major thing it's used for things like repairs and parts,"
Mr Vantilburg claimed the bank told him they 'didn't care' and there was nothing that could be done to stop them. The hardworking tree lopper watched as his money was drained from his bank account via multiple withdraws in amounts of $1,990.
A dodgy withdrawal also occurred while Mr Vantilburg was on the phone to the bank complaining about the frauds. Mr Vantilburg immediately cancelled his credit card, but when he chased up the matter a few weeks later he was told no fraud report had been made in Bendigo Bank's system.
"This is what I don't understand. Bendigo Bank more or less suggests that I had something to do with it,"
He denied this ever happened and has no idea how the thieves got access to his credit card details which he used for his tree cutting business. Mr Vantilburg said he had made a report to the police but they needed more information to take further action.
The first store told him there was nothing that could be done, but information would be handed on to their forensics team. Mr Vantilburg's visit to another JB Hi-Fi paid off after a manager printed out all receipts and uncovered footage revealing two crooks making dicey purchases.
"They said it's your fault we are not going to help you - that's the attitude I got back."
The suspected thieves grifted three Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 phones, three Google Pixel 9 Pro phones and an iPad pro with pencil from across five stores. Mr Vantilburg felt compelled to investigate due to disbelief over Bendigo Bank's response.
"I got no help from them."
A Victorian Police spokesperson confirmed cops are investigating suspected theft and fraud in Melbourne's East on September 12: "It is believed two unknown offenders used a stolen credit card at multiple stores in Camberwell, Nunawading, Forest Hill, Eastland, and Knox." An estimated $14,000 was spent on this credit card; investigations continue.
Bendigo Bank spokesman stated they do not comment specifically on customer matters but emphasized cyber security importance: "It is important customers take steps...as it is extremely difficult recovering transferred scam funds." The bank attempts fund recovery where possible; reimbursing losses when fault lies within banking operations.