A warning has been issued after a Norfolk resident lost £18,000 after being targeted by an online scam.
The householder, who has not been identified, was plagued by persistent phone calls demanding money after responding to an article on Facebook about people who had made money quickly through investing in Bitcoin.
After clicking on the link, they received calls from someone who seemed plausible and was persuaded to initially invest £250.
They subsequently invested a further £4,000 over a couple of weeks with the faker helping set up bank-free online accounts so that money could be changed to Bitcoin which the fraudster used.
Norfolk Trading Standards said the resident became “very uncomfortable” as they were always being asked for more money so, in an effort to stop, asked to withdraw their money.
But they sent a further £5,000 after receiving an email from the finance department using a fraudulent .com address saying it was needed to pay “exchange fees”.
The next day the trickster said the money hadn’t come through in time, so they asked for a “dormant fee” of £2,400 to cover the first £2,000 after exchange fees then another £5,500.
The victim eventually contacted Norfolk Citizens Advice after realising it was a scam when they were asked for a further £6,000 for a “mining tax fee”.
The fraud is now being…
