I was conned out of my cash by Bitcoin boiler-room scam

YOU must get plenty of letters about older people being scammed out of their money by shysters.

Unfortunately, I am a stupid woman who has been conned out of £12,500. Only when I asked my husband for more money did the scam, which started with a phone call, come to light. The first £1,000 was taken from a joint account. Next, I was told it would be easier if the money came from my sole account. What a fool I was!

I have been in touch with Nationwide, but it doesn’t seem to be able to do anything. Please can you help?

C. S ., East Sussex. WHEN I read a letter like yours, my first, rather uncharitable, thought is that I hope the perpetrator slips on the stairs and suffers a painful and life-changing injury — because that is what they seek to inflict on others every time they pick up the phone.

Fraudsters not only steal a person’s money, they can also shatter their confidence and self-esteem. The caller claimed to be a broker and encouraged you to invest in Bitcoin. They set up a trading account in your name — with your authority.

You used your online banking facilities to instruct Nationwide to transfer £12,500 to a cryptocurrency exchange, in two separate payments. This exchange is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

You selected ‘item or activity’ as the reason for the transfer, rather than ‘investment’. If you had chosen ‘investment’, you would have received a more appropriate warning which may have encouraged you to stop.

The fraudster sent the money to a Latvian bank, then it was moved to another cryptocurrency exchange operating in China.

When the scammers came for a third tranche of money, you spoke to your husband who persuaded you to stop. Despite every attempt, Nationwide was not able to recover your funds.

You suffered a brain tumour five years ago which has impacted your decision-making abilities and makes you forgetful. Nationwide says that while it did take your vulnerability into account, this was not done in the early stages.

It says if it had done this, it may have been able to make a claim to the financial industry’s ‘no blame’ fund. However, this option is no longer available as the initial investigation has been concluded.

Taking all this into account, Nationwide has given you an early Christmas present by refunding all your money as a gesture of goodwill.

A spokesman says :‘ We sympathise with the member, who went through what must have been a very worrying time.

‘While we correctly processed t he payments as per her instructions, her potential vulnerability means we could have made a claim under the “noblame” fund of the Contingent Reimbursement Model. We would encourage people to be wary of being contacted out of the blue with an investment opportunity.’

If I could persuade everyone to make one New Year’s resolution, it would be to politely tell all cold callers to get stuffed.

I AM owed a refund for a £300 deposit paid in February for a cruise to Iceland. The cruise company South Quay Travel & Leisure, trading as Cruise &

Maritime Voyages, was placed into administration on July 20.

ABTA contacted me and provided a claim number. I have sent the requested information and documentation but I seem to have hit a brick wall — and I cannot get through to ABTA. I just keep getting referred to ‘frequently asked questions’.

R. G., Wimborne, Dorset. AH, YEs. Frequently asked questions, which never seem to answer our main question: where’s my money?

ABTA apologises for the time taken to deal with your claim. It says it is dealing with around 30,000 claims owing to the number of company failures. As a result, claims are taking longer to process than normal.

It has sent you £100, which represents the amount paid by your travel agent to Cruise & Maritime Voyages. The balance of £ 200 is due from your travel agent, so you should contact it to ask why it is still holding on to your money.

I AM a 64-year-old lady who has been living on around £500-amonth employment and support allowance for the past four years. I have had to subsidise this with my savings, but I no longer have any left. In April this year, I asked a financial adviser t o assist me with drawing £5,000 from an Aviva private pension.

Since then, I have been using my credit card to keep me afloat, as I was confident I would receive this money.

I recently spent a l ong afternoon talking to four or five people at Aviva. They all told me different things, most of which I did not understand.

It transpired that they were explaining that my financial adviser had not provided Aviva with the correct information.

My adviser has confidently assured me that everything is all above board. He says Aviva is a shambles.

B. L., Craigavon, Co. Armagh. AVIVA says the problem did lie with the information sent by your financial adviser.

It made contact with both you and your adviser after I told it of your difficulties. It explained what details were needed in order to release your tax-free cash.

You tell me that the money recently arrived, which must be a great relief.