Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Victim loses life savings in currency scam online
A MAN told how he lost his life savings and his pension in a sophisticated cryptocurrency scam.
The victim, who wants to remain anonymous, invested a six-figure sum in what turned out to be a fraudulent company.
He told the BBC: “I started with £250.
“I didn’t know anything about how cryptocurrency worked, I knew it existed but I didn’t know the ins and outs.”
That initial investment gave a good return and the company had a website and assigned him a personal client manager, with all dealings done over the phone, not online.
He added: “Nothing appeared to be strange, there were no red flags flying in my mind.
MONEY
“I was using money but if I lost it I could survive.”
After months of continued investment, by this stage about £5,000, he was invited to join the firm’s “retirement section”.
He said he had access to an account and a trading platform he could log in to and see his investments.
The company asked him for extra money as insurance, but it was not supposed to be traded and he was told he could get it back at any time.
On February 15 he logged on and the extra money had been traded without his permission.
It was only then he realised that the whole set-up was a scam.
He said: “When I found out in February it was all gone, I just wanted to crawl into a hole.”
He contacted the company to complain and they referred him to a client support group – also part of the fraud.
Damien Doherty, chief inspector of the Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service, said scams such as this were not uncommon.
He added: “The sums of money involved and the devastation that this has caused to this man’s life and his family is heartbreaking.”