Georgina was on her way to pick up a $40,000 Mercedes AMG A35 when she received the worst phone call

A young real estate boss has fallen victim to an elaborate scam that's so sophisticated that no one can figure out how it actually happened.

Georgina Smith, 25, paid a $38,500 deposit on a new Mercedes-Benz AMG A35 at the brand's dealership in Berwick, southeast Melbourne, and was on her way to pick up the luxury car in June 2022 when a phone call changed everything.

The dealership said it had not received her payment and when Ms Smith checked her emails she discovered a second invoice had also been sent for the deposit.

The invoices were identical from top to bottom, with the bank name labelled: Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific Pty Ltd.

But the 14 numbers at the bottom of the document showing the BSB and account number were different.

Ms Smith had been a victim of a 'payment redirection scam', where heartless fraudsters intercept a legitimate invoice and changes the bank details before sending it to their target.

Georgina Smith (pictured) was the victim of a payment redirection scam

How to avoid payment redirection scams

Always make sure you know who you are dealing with or talking to.

Ask yourself if the message or call could be fraudulent.

Stop and check any changes to payee information on invoices.

Contact the business you normally deal with by phone using a number you have sourced independently.

Act quickly if something feels wrong and contact your bank and report scams to Scamwatch.

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Ms Smith admitted she was lulled into a false sense of security after buying a car from the same dealership the year before.

'The invoice was the same, I dealt with the same people at Mercedes, so everything seemed to check out the same way (it) did the year prior,' she told 7News.

After taking the issue up with Mercedes, Ms Smith claims the company told her the invoice had not been intercepted from their end and that it must have been her email that was hacked.

She'd bought the vehicle through her real estate business, Wilson Partners, and said that if her work email had been compromised other invoices would have also been hit by the scammers.

'I (deal with) large transactions every day, if a hacker was waiting and intercepting my emails, my clients would have money missing and they don't,' she said.

Ms Smith has even gone to the effort of hiring an independent IT team to see if her company's servers had been breached in a cyber attack, but nothing was found.

Despite contacting her bank, insurance company and Mercedes-Benz, Ms Smith was unable to recoup the deposit.

She eventually shelled out $91,000 to get the car and end the painful chapter in her life.

'It did take a bit of a toll financially and mentally,' Ms Smith said.

She said she would never buy a car from the the luxury car brand again and urged Mercedes-Benz to admit that their system has been 'compromised'.

'I think that their internal procedures need to be fixed to prevent it happening to more people, it's clear that it's something from their end,' Ms Smith said.

Ms Smith paid a deposit for a Mercedes-Benz AMG A35 (pictured) in May 2022

Instead of getting the car, Ms Smith was shocked to find that she had sent her deposit to a scammers bank account after the invoice was intercepted and had the bank details changed

A spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz said the company takes 'cyber security and data protection very seriously'.

'Sadly, the issue of invoice fraud is not unique to our brand or our industry,' the spokesperson told 7News.

'It is a risk whenever there is an exchange of financial information online. To mitigate this risk, we are continuously evolving security measures to make online payments safer.

'We also urge our customers to be vigilant by ensuring an email or invoice purporting to be from a retailer is legitimate by calling the retailer to confirm it is genuine and any account details are accurate.'

Daily Mail Australia has approached Mercedes-Benz for comment.

There have been 981 instances of payment redirection scams reported to The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) between January 1 and September 30 this year.

The scam has cost Aussies about $13million this year, with last year's total $23.2million.

The ACCC said the scam can affect anyone, from a real estate boss buying a car to a farmer trying to get a good deal on a tractor.

Ms Smith (pictured) said she wasn't able to recoup the lost money and after a back and forth with the luxury brand company spent a total of about $91,000 to put the situation behind her

Martina Birk

Update: 2024-05-31

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