Tracy Hall

Tracy Hall's Biography

Tracy Hall is a passionate speaker who delivers informative and thought provoking keynotes and workshops tackling issues surrounding financial resilience, empowerment, security and wellbeing.  Through her lived experience and deep research into scams and intimate fraud she inspires audiences to take more accountability and agency for their financial futures.

Tracy Hall is an author, keynote speaker and senior marketing executive. Over the last 25 years, Tracy has had extensive exposure to start-ups, large corporations and global tech brands including Virgin Mobile, eBay, GoDaddy and Afterpay. She frequently consults for smaller companies, volunteers as a teen mentor for The Raise Foundation and is a Board Director for the Men’s Mental Health Charity - Mongrels Men.

In 2019, Tracy became known as Hamish McLaren’s famous ‘last victim’ thanks to her role in The Australian’s hit podcast, Who the Hell is Hamish? Today, Tracy is an advocate for financial wellness writing and speaking publicly about intimate fraud, scams, financial empowerment, victim mindsets, resilience and our need to rethink how we trust.

What happens when your life goes from fact to fiction overnight? Sadly, Tracy Hall learned the answer to that question when she swiped right on ‘Max Tavita’ in early 2016, a Bondi surfer and the chief investment officer of a family office.

Initially, Tracy had been drawn to Max’s love of the ocean, running and living a lowkey lifestyle. But after 16 months together, it was his deeply empathetic nature, intelligence and commitment to building a future together that made her trust him with her heart – and her life savings.

What Max’s dating bio didn’t say was that his real name was Hamish McLaren, and that he was a con man in the ranks of people like Elizabeth Holmes, Bernie Madoff and Anna Delvey.

Of course, Tracy didn’t know any of this until a fateful day in July 2017, when she watched news footage of the man she loved getting led away in handcuffs in front of his Bondi Beach apartment. Shocked and confused, Tracy never thought something like this could happen to her. After all, she was a whip-smart, successful single mum who prided herself on her intuition. However, Tracy was a vulnerable divorcée and Hamish was a master manipulator. He couldn’t have picked a better target.

In the weeks, months and years following Hamish’s arrest, Tracy learned that the man who held her at night wasn’t just plotting to steal her life savings. He had also spent the last three decades conning victims out of $70 million-plus dollars across the US, Canada, London, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Sydney.

In 2019, Hamish’s lies landed him in prison, and his story was exposed in the podcast, Who the Hell is Hamish? And now, Hamish McLaren’s famous last victim is ready to share her story.

To enquire about Tracy for your next event contact Helene Greenham directly:

helene@platinumspeakers.com.au

Speaking Topics Include

THE $3.1B INDUSTRY WE NEED TO BE TALKING ABOUT

This keynote will explore in depth the devastating impact of scams and fraud both financially and emotionally on victims, the shame and secrecy around losing money and how to reduce financial vulnerability by educating and empowering people through financial literacy, scam education and vigilance. By building awareness, organisations can reduce risks and protect their brand (and hearts) with financially vigilant and resilient teams.

CREATING UNHACKABLE HUMANS - Scams, Fraud and AI

Scams and fraud are no longer a fringe issue.  In 2024 we lost over $1 TRILLION globally according to the Global Anti Scam Alliance.  In this compelling keynote, Tracy Hall draws from her deeply personal journey of being the final victim of Hamish McLaren, one of Australia’s most notorious conmen.

Through raw storytelling and insightful analysis, Tracy sheds light on the devastating impact of fraud, the stigma of victim-blaming, and how the rapid advancement of AI is reshaping the landscape of scams—for both corporations and criminals.

Tracy also explores in depth the psychology of scams and how basic psychology and social engineering are used in almost every case.

This keynote is not just a cautionary tale - it is a call to action for individuals, communities, and organisations to build financial and digital resilience, educate themselves on scams and fraud, recognise vulnerabilities, and foster vigilance and trust in an increasingly deceptive world.

THE PRICE OF TRUST - YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET

Trust is the most valuable - and most vulnerable - asset we have. Yet most people don’t realise how easily it can be hijacked, manipulated or weaponised.

In this keynote, Tracy Hall shares the extraordinary true story of how Australia’s most prolific conman infiltrated her life, eroded her confidence and stole her financial future—showing that even the smartest among us can fall victim to meticulously engineered deception.

But this keynote isn’t just a personal story. It is a strategic call to arms for leaders, marketers, organisations and communities to understand how trust is built, how it breaks, and how to design systems that design trust in an era of AI-driven impersonation, digital fraud and scalable social engineering.

Grounded in lived experience and research, Tracy reframes trust as a discipline, a design choice, and a measurable organisational asset.

TEENAGE SEXTORTION

Teenage sextortion is one of the fastest growing cybercrimes in Australia, US, UK and Canada and most parents, educators, and community leaders have no idea how common, aggressive or dangerous it has become.

Reports have surged more than 1300% in Australia in recent years, driven by organised criminal networks using social engineering, AI-generated personas and highly manipulative psychological tactics to target vulnerable teens.

In this keynote, Tracy brings clarity, urgency and compassion to a topic most adults feel overwhelmed by. Drawing on global data, lived experience, case research, and her online digital course, she explains how offenders operate, why kids are such easy targets, and what adults must do to intervene early and respond effectively.

This keynote gives audiences the language, tools and confidence to protect young people - without fearmongering, shame, or outdated “don’t do that” messaging. It’s practical, modern, emotionally intelligent digital safety for today’s families, schools and communities.

LADIES, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT ....MONEY & MANIPULATION

"I gave away my financial security, future and power way too easily.  I should have given him the laundry, not my finances"

Tracy Hall’s story is jaw-dropping - but it’s not unique. It shockingly highlights the common vulnerability & risks women face when it comes to financial empowerment and security.

In this keynote, she doesn’t just share her story, she unpacks the systems, silence, & social conditioning that keep women financially vulnerable.

Her experience serves as a powerful reminder that anyone, regardless of their accomplishments or intelligence, can fall victim to financial scams, coercive manipulation or financial vulnerability - especially in the context of intimate relationships.

Ladies, We Need to Talk About Money is a wake-up call wrapped in wit and wisdom. It will encourage bold conversations about money, it breaks down taboos and  explores how shame, secrecy and outdated narratives have left many women lacking confidence and unprepared to protect themselves financially.

ADVERSITY UNIVERSITY

“Losing my life savings to Hamish McLaren wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to me”

Before Tracy Hall met one of Australia’s most notorious con men, her life had already handed her a masterclass in adversity: grief, heartbreak, miscarriage, divorce and the shock of single parenthood. But it wasn’t until she was scammed out of everything she owned that she began to truly understand the psychology of survival and the myths we’re sold about resilience.

In Adversity University, Tracy unpacks the messy, uncomfortable and often unspoken truth: that bouncing back isn’t always possible - and that’s okay. Sometimes the best we can do is crawl forward with grit, grace and a sense of humour.

This keynote offers a deeply personal, unfiltered take on overcoming life’s hardest hits. Blending lived experience with insight, Tracy challenges the toxic positivity of “just be resilient” and instead offers a more realistic roadmap for navigating chaos with self-compassion and clarity.

Whether you're a team leader, educator, business owner or simply human, this session will leave you feeling seen, steadied, and stronger.