Scammers threaten to shoot man who exposed their text con trick

The man who exposed a scam targeting ANZ Bank customers has received threats of violence and sickening messages by the perpetrators.

Business owner Paul was hit with what's called an "over-stamping" scam, where crooks hijack the phone numbers of legitimate institutions like banks.

This week he exposed the scam when he told 2GB how the fraudsters bragged to him about "taking a vacation" after stealing $130,000 from his account with a complex text message scam.

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But today he revealed they had contacted him again, threatening to track him down.

In a recording of his chilling phone conversation with an English-accented man, the scammer threatened to "smash your head in ... I'll shoot you as well".

He also taunted his victim by telling Paul that his business would "drown" after the loss of money.

The business owner's ordeal began when he received a message from ANZ.

He had no reason to assume it wasn't legitimate.

The message appeared in the same chain on his phone that real messages from the bank had.

But this one from scammers warned him that his business account was compromised, and told him his options were to cancel his credit card, or deposit funds into a new account.

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"I'm running a business and not having a credit card makes things very difficult, so the second option was better for me," he said.

Over the next four days, Paul transferred $130,000 into the new account, which was run by the scammers.

After about a week, he said, ANZ's scam watchers contacted him with a warning.

"It's hard to put in words. You get this sinking feeling in your stomach as soon as you find out you've been scammed," Paul said.

ANZ has helped recover some of the money, but Paul remains out about $80,000, and he said that wasn't likely to change.

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He's now worried he'll have to close down his business.

The speaker claimed to have purchased Paul's bank details for $20.

Paul is urging people to be aware of the scam.

"I don't know how I can financially get over it," he said.

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Can you pick the Black Friday scam text message?

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