‘I lost my £150,000 life savings to Facebook investment scam and now I have to sell my home’
DAD-OF-TWO Kevin Holmstrom lost his £150,000 life savings to an investment scam on Facebook.
The 61-year-old from Middlesbrough now faces selling up his family home and downsizing to a smaller property as a result.
"These people are so heartless and ruthless that they do not care and would take your last penny," Kevin told The Sun.
"I have suffered from many sleepless nights and I have been trying to get my money back ever since.
"It’s nuts. You can’t believe that someone would take this sort of money from you.
"And I'm angry at Facebook to have allowed this to happen in the first place - I assumed because the company was advertised on Facebook that it must be legitimate - and the fact Facebook gets paid for these adverts means it's responsible.
Signs that should set the alarm bells ringing include:
- Unexpected contact – while you may be on your guard for cold callers, you now need to be alert to contact out of the blue from all sorts of online sources, such as email or social media. The same applies to contact you may get through the post, via word of mouth, or even in person at a seminar or exhibition.
- Time pressure – beware if someone offers you a bonus or discount if you invest before a set date or says the opportunity is only available for a short period.
- Social proof – keep an eye out for fake reviews and claims that other clients have invested, or want in on the deal.
- Unrealistic returns – watch out for fraudsters promising tempting returns that sound too good to be true, such as much better interest rates than elsewhere.
- False authority – don’t get tricked by convincing literature and websites, or investments which claim to be regulated. Also be wary of someone speaking with authority on investment products.
- Flattery – be on your guard if someone tries to build a friendship with you. They may be trying to lull you into a false sense of security.
"My girls have just turned four now, and it was their future that I was most concerned about.
"I was reluctant to use the service but the scammers persuaded me to open an account.
Bank of Scotland, RBS on behalf of Mint, and Yorkshire Bank similarly say they were unable to recover any funds because Kevin had authorised the transactions and there was nothing to indicate they were suspicious at the time.
A Bank of Scotland spokesperson said: "While we sympathise with Mr Holmstrom’s situation, the credit card payments were processed as he requested and we are unable to assist him in reclaiming losses incurred through his online trading account.”
An RBS spokesperson said: "We sympathise with Mr Holmstrom who has been the victim of an investment scam and appreciate that this has been a very distressing experience for him."
A spokesperson for Yorkshire Bank said: "Our fraud team investigated this situation and tried to recover any funds from the receiving bank account.
"Unfortunately no monies were available and we have been unable to reimburse the funds transferred because the customer authorised the transfer of money from his bank account."
Martin Lewis got Facebook to donate £3million to Citizens Advice to help tackle fraudsters after people got stung by scam ads on the social networking site that fraudulently used his face and name.
We spoke to another reader after bitcoin scammers stole his £66,000 life savings – forcing him to sell his home.
Another reader, who is disabled, spent 13 years paying back £50,000 he lost after falling for a "fake" shares investment scam.
Meanwhile an investigation by The Sun has revealed that a British gang is conning UK pensioners out of millions of pounds in an investment scam.
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