My life has been turned upside down as a result of Barclays failing to protect transactions made from my current account.
In July 2020, I was persuaded to buy Bitcoin and invest it in a firm developing a Covid vaccine. During a period of around three months, I withdrew amounts ranging from £475 to £25,000. I later discovered this was a scam.
Barclays did not query a single transaction, despite these being completely out of character for me. I complained, but the bank passed me from one person to next and was slow to act, then it dismissed my complaint.
Crypto scam: A dating app scammer duped a victim into sending Bitcoin claiming it would be invested in a legitimate firm developing a Covid vaccine
I took my case to the Financial Ombudsman Service, but I fell foul of its six-month deadline for submitting a complaint, so it was rejected.
I have been extremely ill and depressed as a result of all this, and have resorted to calling out the mental health team twice to help me avoid committing suicide. Please help.
Anon.
Sally Hamilton replies: When I contacted you, I was distressed to hear how you were hooked by this terrible scam.
You had recently been through a messy divorce and when you finally felt strong enough to try to meet someone new, you joined the dating app Tinder.
You enjoyed online conversations with a friendly, fortysomething woman who said she lived in Norfolk — too far away for you to easily meet, and it was lockdown. How convenient for the scammer.
