The Last Victim

by Tracy Hall, Summer Land

When Who the Hell is Hamish? hit podcast platforms in 2019, Tracy Hall quickly became known as the last victim of one of the world's most prolific con men, Hamish McLaren. At last, Tracy is sharing the full story of how she overcame financial and emotional betrayal in this fast-paced, witty and empowering true crime memoir.

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.

Genres: Nonfiction

287 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2024

Reviews

[Michelle Janssen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was certainly gripping and I finished it quickly. I would have loved some more detail about other victims & what it felt like to be shut out by the people she knew around him. Repetitious towards the end - but glad to see she is looking after herself and healing

[Lisa Mc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy was good, VERY good at gaining the trust of his victims. Tracy was smart but unfortunately not as smart as Hamish. You have to wonder how he got away with such elaborate scams for so long in a country like Australia.

[Jane Melross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating story, well written and well told by the author (listened to this one on Audible).

[Deb Kingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good quick and easy read about a subject that every woman should be aware of today.

Especially woman who use dating apps, are solo mums and have worked hard to get where they are in life. Or older widows and divorcées.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it! I wouldn’t say the writing is profound but the story is gripping and I can relate to Tracy . I admire her strength so much! I also related to her story of dating in her 40s and how difficult it is and her funny descriptions of the men she had to contend with. It’s so easy to fall for scams and this book eliminates the shame associated with our humanness

[Ally Marov · Rating 4 out of 5]

”As a self-confessed podcast junkie, he had me at serial. I had a pretty good idea of just how impactful a podcast can be. But was I ready for the world to know I was Hamish McClaren’s last victim? My gut was telling me ‘yes’ but as you’ll recall, the only thing Hamish didn’t take from me was self doubt. In fact, he amplified it on his way out”.

✨4.5 stars✨

This month was a bit of a tricky one to pick out but for May’s Alyssa’s Self Audible Book Club pick, I’ve decided to pick The Last Victim by Tracy Hall.

In my early days of discovering true crime, I listened to the Who the Hell is Hamish? podcast and loved it! It made me wonder how many times can somebody go and try to swindle money out of people?

After going down the small rabbit hole of the Hamish McClaren case, there wasn’t much more to look forward to.

It wasn’t until I was searching for the book club pick that I came across this for preorder.
Getting some further insight as to how Tracy ended up with “Max” and how everything unfolded? Count me in!

There are three parts to the book; Before, During and After.

Before is the part where Hall talks about life before she meets “Max Tevita”. She speaks about losing her dad to cancer, going on a trip to India/Nepal, getting married, having a baby, getting a divorce, etc. These chapters were short, sweet, and didn’t drag on a lot.

During is about her time where she meets “Max” and has a relationship with him…
Now, prior to listening to this book, after looking at photos of him and somewhat judging his personality type, he kinda gives off the vibes of a closeted gay man. After listening to the somewhat vague recount of what he is like in the bedroom, I don’t think it would surprise me if he was gay but only pretended to be in a relationship with a woman to get her money… this is in no way attacking Hamish, I could give two shits, but this was just a small observation 🙂
Also, what on Earth is his obsession with The Matrix 🤣

After is about the time when she finally finds out the truth, attends a couple of his court hearings, and her life after overcoming this obstacle. Personally, there wasn’t that much that I got out of it but I still enjoyed listening to it.

Overall, this was a quick and interesting listen! It’s a great follow up to the podcast. If you haven’t listened to it yet, I definitely would recommend it before reading/listening to this book 🤗🌻✨

[Bec · Rating 5 out of 5]

After hearing Tracy speaking on a podcast, I was keen to read this book. I really enjoyed her storytelling and the way that she was able to build her story in a narrative of before, during and after her relationship with Max.
A great read.

[Jodi Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible story, it’s mind boggling to hear about the length these people will go to for money, the way they weave themselves into the fabric of someone else’s life under false pretences.

5 Stars, and I hope the Author gets a good commission to at the very least start getting some money back into her super.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent recounting of how an intelligent, trusting woman was conned by Hamish Watson out of her life savings and superannuation. Her honest detailing of her life makes the reader realise how anyone who is vulnerable at the time, can be conned by a master manipulator. Since her story was taken up by a journalist for a podcast, so many more victims have come to light as well as the millions Hamish has taken from them and who knows how many have not wanted to publicise how they were duped. Due to his sentence being reduced on appeal he will be at large again in 2026 and undoubtedly will be looking for more victims to fund his lifestyle.

[Ishita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book over the course of a day and how I could I put this down? An unimaginable and heartbreaking read, that's somehow inspiring? I may be biased because I consider Tracy a friend, but nevertheless found this book to be an incredibly vulnerable, moving and brave book to publish. The fact that she's using her trauma to educate others, advocate for change, and move forward is impressive!
This is a profound story that teaches you to always listen to your gut, never ignore the red flags, and reach out and ask for help when needed. Highly recommend everyone reads this book, it's definitely an eye-opener!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent memoir detailing the horrors of intimate partner fraud. Having listened to the Hamish podcast this provided a great deal of context about how such an awful thing could happen to a person.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read of a crazy true story, I couldn't put it down!

[Brenda]

"Like Shame,most wounds dry out beautifully in the sunlight"~Tracy Hall

Thankyou Tracy for allowing yourself to be so vulnerable and sharing your story with us❤️

[Simona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will listen to the podcast - what a nightmare

[astrid bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

far out what a story- i love when podcasts result in action and media exposure on shit that needs to be brought to attention

[Jillwilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I have an unpleasant fascination with villains. It came out most recently when I was watching ‘Bad Sisters’ – the villain of the show, JP is so compelling as a totally one-dimensional villain that when he dies, it is problematic for the dramatic vibe. And I also love a scammer story.
The avalanche of scammer stories in print and on screen much mean that a lot of people share my love of a great con story. There are reasons for this. I’ve been doing some research. An article in the Canadian website The Walrus noted that women outnumber men when it comes to the consumption of true crime literature (University of Illinois 2010). The article quoted Martina Dove, author of The Psychology of Fraud, Persuasion and Scam Techniques: Understanding What Makes Us Vulnerable, stating: ““When we’re seeing stories about scams, we think, ‘I’m glad this didn’t happen to me,’” says Dove. “By watching these series, especially with fraud, people think they have more control over it than they do. . . . Through these stories, people try to see how they can grow smarter.” (https://thewalrus.ca/why-are-we-so-ob...)

In another article, psychotherapist Jack Worthy says: Scammer narratives speak to that unconscious part in each of us that’s on guard against betrayal… Each of us has experienced at least some small piece of betrayal: a coworker who steps over us, a partner who cheats, a friend you catch in a lie. A scammer narrative can feel like a heightened version of normal reality.” (https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/art...) So there’s a relatable element to a scammer story – a there by the grace of God kind of thing.
But it’s also about feelings of superiority. Along with empathy, there’s often a schadenfreude element to it. Is it that the regular reader/viewer is confident that they never would have fallen for a similar scam? Psychotherapist Worthy also said that the popularity of scammer narratives is reflective of the 21st century being a particularly mistrustful age. “Our societal trust feels terribly low to me. We don’t trust the media, government, institutions, or one another. We’re all looking around the corner for who’s scamming us.”

So it’s both the scam itself and the character of the scammer that fascinates. A Huffington Post article quotes Maria Konnikova, a psychologist and the author of The Confidence Game [Konnikova is also quoted in the book ‘The Last Victim’]. She says: ““You can really ignore the victim and just focus on how clever and charismatic and charming and audacious the con artist is,” she said, adding that the ability to ignore the victim removes the guilt associated with admiring people she sees as “despicable human beings who ruin lives…” And a professor of psychiatry says: “There’s this feeling of `Wasn’t that a cowboy adventure? I wish I could be that brazen, not so saddled by my conscience, worries and inhibitions,’” Oldham said. People are drawn to their confidence and king-of-the-world attitude.” (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/obsess...)

This is a long-winded intro to the book The Last Victim. It recounts the experiences of Tracey Hall. Tracy met Hamish through a dating app in 2016 who for this scam was posing as Max Tavita. At the time, Tracy was 40 years old, newly single, and exploring online dating. Tracy and Hamish met in person and developed a relationship that extended almost 18 months where Tracy was convinced, groomed and guided by Hamish to transfer her life savings. (Yes – it is the Hamish from the Who the Hell is Hamish podcast.) Hall describes Hamish as an expert in “mirroring.  This plays on our similarity bias which is essentially a bias we all have that says if someone looks like us, sounds like us, wants the same things as us, has the same morals and values – then we are more likely to trust and fall in love with them.”

She writes about the red flags that she missed at the time. Among the most glaring was McLaren’s reluctance to introduce her to family and friends. “If you’re in your 40s and haven’t met someone’s friends and family within the first few months, that’s a massive red flag,” she says. He had no digital presence—no social media, no online footprint, which Hall now understands was highly unusual.

I’ve read more compelling books about scammers – ‘Fake’ by Stephanie Wood, and Jeanne Ryckmans ‘Trust’. I think they had a heightened degree of interest because the conmen in both had a gruesome level of fascination. The writers, in both instances, really brought the scammer alive. Hall doesn’t quite achieve the same impact – I wonder if she just couldn’t bear to think about him too much. Nevertheless, the book becomes duller when he goes to jail. It feels wrong to write this – of course I feel empathy for Hall – who lost both a relationship that she has committed to and over $300K. But the last part of the book, e=where Hall focuses on what she did to heal, needed a good edit. The feeling was similar to the feeling I had watching Bad Sisters – once the villain has exited, a lot of the energy leaves the narrative.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book whose author steps out to tell her story of being horribly deceived.... not only out of her life savings but also by finding out the man she loved didn't really exist.
I'd listened to the 'Who the hell is Hamish' podcast and wanted to understand more about how this had all happened.
This book reveals it all, in heartbreaking detail... how a woman fell in love with a man who seemed to be all that she wanted, but was only moulding himself into her ideal to steal her money.
That is truly despicable but this book is ultimately positive as it shows Tracy's resilience and determination to pull herself out of this huge betrayal and despair, to start living her life again.
A great read if you want to appreciate the ability of the human spirit to pick itself back up again.
Phil Johnston.

[Anne Gately · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I know it sounds weird to say that I loved a story that caused so much pain to Tracy. While it's a traumatic story there is a sense of humour throughout, which apart from being entertaining, has given me the feeling that Tracy has been able to do a significant amount of healing - I loved how she mentioned Max/Hamish's bald spot and the fizzle (read the book to understand what this means!).

It really is a rollicking good story which spans the spectrum of the human condition - from a psychopath to the grace and strength of one woman rebuilding her life.

It is a cautionary tale reminding all of us that regardless of how switched on we may be, we will all have vulnerable moments, and its in those moments unfortunately that nefarious types can prey. On the upside for Tracey it was also when her tribe held her close and helped her recover.

[James Norcross · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only made it to chapter 5 before I lost interest so it might get better, but there’s too much good reading out there..

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read. Couldn't put it down!

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your strength, openness, self-awareness, and outlook on life are truly inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story and for the work you are doing in the scam and fraud space, which I believe extends to empowerment for women and society at large.

[Jordan Mezzino · Rating 3 out of 5]

🎧 AUDIOBOOK

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

About a romantic con man. Very good read. True story.