Dad lost £20,000...what they did to him was awful
ALISON Havercroft recently discovered her elderly father was defrauded out of more than £20,000 after being persuaded to buy bogus shares and land in Bulgaria.
Her father Gordon was coldcalled and persuaded to invest via a company called Chelsea Management Group – a name the sham company probably hoped victims would confuse with the legitimate and regulated broker Chelsea Financial Services.
Its ‘employees’ tried to swindle a further £100,000 from Gordon, at which point he became suspicious and contacted the police and his bank. Neither could help recover the money lost.
The scam dates back to 2006 but only came to Alison’s attention last month. While visiting her parents she handled a call on Gordon’s behalf from a company offering to buy the worthless shares from a decade ago – itself another fraud.
Alison, 59, who lives in Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire with her husband and son, says: ‘That was the first I heard about the shares.’
She asked the company to send further details, which it refused to do but followed up with emails and calls. After learning more about her father’s original investment, and researching the latest company to call, she realised it was a scam.
Alison says: ‘These terrible people prey on the elderly. How they operate is disgusting. People need to be sceptical.’