ONLY $1200 of the $480,000 scammed from Warrnambool's Emmanuel College has been located by police.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Queensland police Detective Sergeant Brett Richard said the money had been moved by a 55-year-old Gatton district resident, who had been acting for a third party.
He said the ANZ bank account, opened in March this year, had been frozen after police were alerted to the scam.
Emmanuel College made a payment of $480,000 on May 11 after receiving an email changing bank account details purporting to be from a Warrnambool construction business.
"We are still looking at how much is there, but the money is gone overseas," Detective Sergeant Richard said.
"The account holder can't access his account and the only information we have is that there’s only $1200 left in it."
Detective Sergeant Richard said there was nothing to suggest that man was willingly involved in the scam.
"That person opened an account after communicating on social media with a third party," he said.
"The email sent to the school originated from overseas. The account holder has then withdrawn money and put it through overseas."
Detective Sergeant Richard said officers had spoken to the account holder and investigations were on-going.
"A relationship had been built up with him over a couple of years, since 2012, and he tells us that over that time he has sent gifts overseas of $10,000 to $12,000," he said.
"It does not appear he was involved to make any gain. The social media communications have originated in the United States, United Kingdom and Nigeria.”
Emmanuel College principal Peter Morgan said the the impact of the scam was a huge setback for the college’s future plans.
“The college has accessed independent expert assistance to ensure any gaps in its procedures are closed,” he said.
“We are well insured but insurance will not cover the whole amount,” he said.
A woman from Ipswich has been charged in relation to a similar email bank account scam involving the Midfield Group.
But Midfield staff stopped payment and scammers only netted a fraction of their potential collect.
Last year Wannon Water also made a complaint to Warrnambool police relating to a $120,000 scam attempt.