Scam Awareness Week 2024

Jason had been researching cryptocurrency investments on WhatsApp. At the same time, a scammer called “Jenny” approached Jason on a different forum and they started chatting, developing what Jason thought was a good friendship. Eventually, Jenny mentioned that her uncle was very successful in cryptocurrency investments. She explained that regular returns were up to 60% and offered to arrange Jason’s investment through her uncle, so he knew his money would be safe.

Jason agreed to make an initial investment and was impressed with how much he’d profited. Jenny encouraged him to invest larger amounts, which continued to make good returns. Jason trusted Jenny and had no suspicions about his new successful investment portfolio.

Jason’s bank contacted him several times, concerned about the large sums of money he was investing in cryptocurrencies in such a short time.

He’d been so careful in setting up multiple cryptocurrency wallets and by starting with smaller investments, he didn’t believe it was a scam. The bank refused to transfer any more money to any cryptocurrency facility.

Eventually, Jason attempted to start withdrawing his profits. He found he had no access to his cryptocurrency wallet, and he couldn’t get in contact with his friend Jenny, who had arranged the investments. Jason had over $500,000 stolen.

Sharing his story

Jason reported the scam and then phoned a financial counsellor. Jason felt relieved to share his story without fear of judgement. He was too embarrassed to tell anyone he knew that he’d been scammed.

Hannah had been trapped by a cryptocurrency scam and had already had over $300,000 stolen. After being scammed, she was struggling mentally, financially and physically. Hannah’s in her seventies and she was worried she would lose her independence if her family found out. She became more isolated from her children and desperate to get her money back. She was looking to borrow from her mortgage to pay for an investigator to recover her money.

Then she had a call from “David”. David had all the details of who Hannah had been dealing with when she was scammed. He explained he’d been conducting investigations into another matter and had identified Hannah’s funds along with other peoples’ funds who had been targeted by the same scammer. Hannah was flooded with relief.

Hannah was excited to find someone who knew where her money was, and who was confident that they could recover it.

David called Hannah every second day, and they would have long conversations about many topics. Hannah looked forward to the calls from David as she was lonely and isolated. She was willing to pay the $25,000 fee David was charging.

Sharing her story

Hannah went to withdraw the money, and the bank teller alerted her to the scam. The teller explained that David was probably the same person who had scammed her in the first instance or possibly a close contact of the scammer. Hannah was grateful and relieved to be able to finally share her experiences and financial stress with someone. Hannah was referred to further support services to help her recover from being scammed. She has still not been able to bring herself to tell her family.