“Nabbed” which profiles pensioner Ian Williams who sued NAB over online scamming is pulled at the last minute as an “editorial decision” by ABC.
ABC has made a last minute change to Australian Story this evening, pulling an episode “Nabbed,” due to an “editorial issue.”
It was replaced with an episode around the Pub Choir.
An ABC spokesperson told TV Tonight, “There was an editorial issue. No further info at this time sorry.”
The episode profiles pensioner Ian Williams, a self-confessed “stubborn bugger” who sued NAB over online scamming.
ABC has also deleted synopsis info from a number of websites and social media.
Here is the full synopsis originally supplied by ABC:
When Victorian pensioner Ian Williams lost $1338 in a banking scam, he expected a quick refund and apology. But his bank, a subsidiary of the National Australia Bank, blamed him for the transactions, despite Ian’s dogged detective work producing clear evidence to the contrary.
The bank’s attitude so incensed the self-confessed “stubborn bugger” that he sued for it for $379,005,000. Williams estimated he was scammed 5.5% of his annual income and that figure represents 5.5% of NAB’s annual earnings.
“It was a number that in my mind would get the bank’s attention,” Williams says.
Ian has a varied skill set. He’s been a bricklayer, a private investigator, a nurse, a horse breaker and a bouncer. But representing himself in the Supreme Court was a challenge.
“I’ve downloaded the actual laws and the codes of conduct”, he says. “And you think, ‘Christ, what are they trying to get at?’”
Along the way, Ian joined the Scam Victim Alliance, an organisation which provides support to people who’ve been scammed and lobbies for legislation to protect them.
“Ian’s case was very similar to some of the other payments cases that we’d been dealing with,” says co-founder Alex Brooks. “They dispute the transaction but somehow the banks are able to still say it’s all your fault. “
Australian Story followed Ian Williams through the ups and downs of his court case and its aftermath, as he sought to hold the bank publicly accountable and draw attention to the massive problem of online scamming.
While the court case didn’t go the way he hoped, he did achieve an unexpected victory.
“I completely understand why he decided to go down the path he decided to go down”, says Chris Sheehan, head of fraud at NAB. “We could have done things a lot better.”
Producer: Amos Roberts
It isn’t clear when, or if, the episode will screen.