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Investment Scam: Builder Lost £95k After Answering Instagram Advert

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A builder has been left in crippling debts and suffering from panic attacks after being conned out of £95,000 by a sophisticated investment scam.

Colin Theobald, 61, of London Colney, near St Albans, fell foul to the fraudsters after answering an Instagram advert for crypto currency in June, this year.

The scammers even sent Mr Theobald a convincing website under the name of a legitimate company through which he was able to log in to track his so-called investments.

A woman called ‘Chris’ called him from Norway  to talk him through the process and at first everything seemed to be going well and it looked like he was making good money.

Mr Theobald invested £45,000 of his late father’s inheritance and went on to borrow a further £50,000 in total. He is now having to pay more than a £1,100 a month to service these debts.

At one point his investment portal said that he had made £220,000 but when he tried to start withdrawing the money he was told he needed to pay an additional £15,000 to pass anti-money laundering checks.

More excuses came from the scammers as to why they needed additional money to withdraw the funds which is why he started the borrowing.

Mr Theobald said: ‘I’m struggling with it all emotionally. Towards the end of each month I know I have to pay off the loans and it plays on mind. I have panic attacks.

‘It was also so convincing. I was in a bad place at the time as I’d suffered from pneumonia for months was really ill and also got sepsis. Everything was on top of me.’

National Fraud Helpline is working to help get Mr Theobald’s money back.

Martin Richardson, senior partner at Richardson Hartley Law, said: ‘‘People need to be incredibly careful when answering social media adverts. This was an incredibly clever and sophisticated scam.

‘We believe that the pattern of unusual spending should have been spotted and stopped by his bank, particularly as he was vulnerable at the time due to illness.

‘Everyday across the UK scammers are ruining thousands of people’s lives. More needs to be done to protect people.’

Mr Thoebald’s bank, Revolut, has initially rejected his claim to be recompensed saying they gave him sufficient scam warnings.  We are now raising a claim on his behalf through the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Read more about how to avoid falling victim to Crypto Scams.

Have you lost money to a scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline. Call 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.