I am 82 and live with my wife who is 79. We have just our state pensions to live off.
In March 2021, I saw an advert online about investing in cryptocurrency from just £250. A man who said he was Lucas Hoffman rang me on behalf of a company called WiseCoin.
He said he was Swiss, opened an account on my behalf and started trading for me. Then he arranged for me to open an account with a money transfer firm through which I could make payments from my Halifax account into WiseCoin.
Tricked: An elderly reader was conned into handing over his life savings to an internet scammer claiming to work for a major cryptocurrency investment firm
He said I could remove my money at any time and as an act of faith transferred £250 back into my Halifax account.
In total I transferred about £52,000. When the value in cryptocurrency was shown as £119,000, I asked Hoffman to withdraw all my money.
He said a colleague would need to arrange this, but I heard nothing. After a week, I got in touch with Halifax, which told me I’d been scammed.
It said it would not refund the money and it was up to me to chase the other organisations. I have no savings left. Please can you help.
Anon.
Sally Hamilton replies: I know many readers will be thinking how could you be so naïve? But I am here to help all in their hour of need. In my experience of dealing with similar cases, I can see how hard it is for victims to resist the insistent sales patter of an accomplished conman.
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