I lost £25,000 to cruel scam after my mum died and was plunged into debt

Colin Thackeray, 63, from Ormskirk, was plunged into £13,000 of debt as a result of the scam and was forced to take on bank loans. The criminals sucked Colin into the scam in October 2024, just a month after his mother had passed away.

As well as taking out two loans to fund the fake payments, with monthly repayments of nearly £500, he lost £10,000 that had been left to him by his late mum.

Colin said: “I don’t want to use my mum’s passing as an excuse, but my head wasn’t in the right place.

“When I realised I had lost the money, I was having to work all the hours in overtime to keep my head above water. Apart from work, I just locked myself in my flat, didn’t go out, and either watched TV or stared at the four walls.”

Colin’s ordeal began when he received an email from someone claiming to be from a company that told him he had $55,000 in an old trading account. Colin had dabbled in investments in the past so said the email “seemed believable”.

He was given a ‘personal financial adviser’ called ‘Neil’, who talked him through the process of reclaiming his investment.

“He sounded genuine, and knew what he was talking about,” said Colin, a fork lift truck driver. “Everything seemed fine at first - there weren't any red flags. He said because the account had been dormant I would have to put 10 per cent of the money in to restart it.”

The criminals encouraged him to transfer money from his HSBC account into an account on the OKX cryptocurrency platform.

Between October 7 and October 30, he transferred £13,968 and then between November 4 and November 14 he sent a further £11,000. The scammers told him that, on top of the reactivation fee, he would need to pay further fees for taxes and anti-money laundering regulations.

Unfortunately, the fraudsters had downloaded software on his phone when helping him set up the OKX account, allowing them remote access to his device - and stolen all the money from his account.

The fraud came to light when ‘Neil’ told him that to receive his funds, he would need to have it paid into a non-UK bank account or pay another fee, this time of £10,000.

Colin, a father-of-two said: “This was a red flag. When I contacted OKX, they said they didn’t know anything about an account, and the emails I’d received weren’t from them.

“I tried to ring Neil on the number we’d been using, and guess what? The phone number doesn't exist. I was embarrassed, I didn't tell anybody and just went into my shell.”

Colin eventually enlisted the help of solicitors from National Fraud Helpline to recover the money from his bank, and managed to get back the full amount of £24,968.

He said: “When I got the news I burst into tears - it was amazing. I’d written it off if I’m honest. It’s such a worry off my mind, and I’m now debt free.

“I’m £500 a week better off and I can start living again. I wanted to go to my mum’s grave in Worcester, but it costs me about £40 in fuel and I just couldn't afford it. Now I can do things like that.

“I can also think about a holiday because of the amount of stress I’ve had in the last 12 months.”

Leo McGowan, a lawyer at National Fraud Helpline, said: “It is very typical of scammers to prey on people at a time when they are vulnerable. They often become relentless in their pursuit of a victim when they sense a weakness.

“We are delighted that we were able to retrieve all of Colin’s money for him.”