I was tricked into sending £80k in sick fake bank ‘freeze’ scam – it all started with a worrying photo I received online
A WOMAN has revealed how she lost £80,000 in a vicious dating scam that involved fake banks.
Kirsty, 42, fell victim to an unscrupulous online fraudster who won her trust when he asked her to log into his account and move money for him.
The florist from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, had been chatting on the phone with a dark haired, blue-eyed single who claimed he was a wealthy businessman.
His deceitful plan started by telling Kirsty that he will be travelling to Turkey on business.
He went silent for three days before suddenly reaching out saying he had been in an accident and sent her a photo from hospital.
The man revealed that he needed help with the cost of hospital bills – but unexpectedly, he did not ask Kirsty for the money.
Instead, he asked her to log into his bank accounts for a site called Regional Bank PLC to sort out a payment – here she saw he had a large $600,000 bank balance.
“He sent me a picture of him in the hospital, in a hospital gown, saying that he was really unwell,” Kirsty told BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme.
“His car had been hijacked. He was pulled out of the car and beaten up.”
But being given access to his bank account and seeing transactions, she was lured into a false sense of trust.
Little did Kirsty know, the banking websites were completely fake.
And when the account seemed to “freeze” the man’s tone changed.
He blamed her for the error after she appeared to be “locked out” of his account.
“I thought I’d done the right thing, I thought I’d helped somebody,” she continued.
“He went mad and he blamed me. He just went crazy.”
He later apologised for the outburst but asked if she could cover £5,000 he needed to pay.
The fraudster reminded her that she’d seen the contents of his bank account and that he would pay her back once his account was accessible again.
However, more requests for money continued to come in until they reached a total of £80,000 – £50,000 of that was lent to Kirsty from her parents and sister.
She even paid for his flight home but he didn’t turn up at the airport.
He told Kirsty she could repay herself by logging back into his accounts – but remained stuck as pending.
“My heart just exploded. I just felt like I was in a black hole,” she told the BBC.
“I couldn’t reason with myself. I couldn’t understand myself. I couldn’t understand what had happened, what I’d done.”
She added: “They’ve taken everything I’ve got, everything I’ve earned, everything I’ve built.”
What to do if you think you’ve been scammed
IF you’ve lost money in a scam, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or by visiting Actionfraud.police.uk.
You should also contact your bank or credit card provider immediatley to see if they can stop or trace the cash.
If you don’t think your bank has managed your complaint correctly, or if you’re unhappy with the verdict it gives on your case you can complain to the free Financial Ombudsman Service.
Also monitor your credit report in the months following the fraud to ensure crooks don’t make further attempts to steal your cash.