While the pandemic has ruined many livelihoods, it has provided a boom for criminals
A retired teacher who lost £ 120,000 on a Instagram the scam told ITV News it claimed Universal credit as a result of the loss.
Teresa Jackson, 63, of Portishead, is among 36 million adults targeted by scammers since January, according to Citizens Advice.Ms Jackson, a retired teacher, signed up for the fake investment plan after responding to a social media ad. The post claimed that adventurer and host Bear Grylls had gotten rich by investing in Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency.
After expressing her interest, Ms Jackson received a call from a man posing as a financial advisor.
Ms Jackson explains exactly how much the £ 120,000 she lost was to her
“He knew everything there was to know about Bitcoin and investing. He used to go and check everything he said, everything seemed genuine, ”he explained.
By the time she realized the scheme was in fact not genuine, Ms Jackson had lost £ 120,000 – her pension and savings.
She said: “I felt ashamed and stupid… my family trusted me to know what I was doing.”
Fortunately, Mrs. Jackson’s bank gave him back half the money when he reported the scam to them.
However, they said they weren’t able to give her the full amount because she made the decision to transfer the money herself.
“I’m on Universal Credit now, it’s that easy,” he said.
Ms Jackson admitted that she felt comfortable, but said she could no longer live the life she was leading.
Citizens Advice said more than two-thirds (68%) of people believed they had been targeted by scammers so far this year.While people 55 and older, like Ms. Jackson, are more likely to be targeted, people 34 and under are almost five times more likely to be scammed than their older counterparts, found the charity.Younger people were more likely to be attacked by text or messaging service (61%), while people over 55 were more likely to be attacked by phone (73%).Most (54%) of fraudulent contacts involved fake packages or deliveries, but in 41% of cases someone pretended to be from the government and 12% of attempted scams were by someone offering a bogus investment or “ get rich “fast” diet. .
Citizens Advice said the number of scam complaints has increased dramatically.
Comparing the first five months of 2021 to the same period in 2020, there has been a 123% increase in reports of charity scams.In one case seen by Citizens Advice, an elderly man sent £ 240,000 to an account he claimed belonged to his bank.
Ms Jackson explains how the con artist convinced her to give up her money
In another, a young woman was contacted when she lost £ 2,000 to a fake cryptocurrency company after receiving a message from a friend’s hacked social media account.And in another case, a Suffolk woman lost £ 750 which she sent to a fake dog breeder.Citizens Advice and the Consumer Protection Partnership have launched their annual scam awareness campaign.Dame Clare Moriarty, CEO of Citizens Advice, said: “Our research shows that when it comes to scams, anyone can be the target and anyone can be misled.“It’s more important than ever that we do our part to report scams when we see them to help protect ourselves and others. By learning how scammers work and helping each other understand what to look for, we can all work together to stop scammers in their tracks. ”Louise Baxter, Director of the National Trade Standards Scam Team, said: “Just being the target of scams has been shown to harm people’s well-being.“We urge people to protect themselves and their loved ones from scams by taking our free Friends Against Scams awareness training at www.FriendsAgainstScams.org.uk.”Opinium surveyed over 2,000 people across the UK, 68% of whom said they had been contacted by someone they said was trying to scam them.
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