A tech-savvy York man who lost £12,000 in an investment scam that used images of famous TV stars as bait is warning others not to make the same mistake.
George Summerson, 41, was set to become a dad for the second time when he thought he’d found a legitimate way to make extra cash to support his growing family.
But instead he ended up out of pocket and devastated he’d been taken in by highly-organised criminals.
Mr Summerson, from Huntington, spoke to an account manager and was excited to watch his ‘profits’ grow.
But when he tried to withdraw his money he realised he had been scammed.
“I was kicking myself,” he said. “I never thought this would happen to me.
“I know about internet security and I’m not elderly or vulnerable. I even alert my mum so she doesn’t fall for them.
“I know my way around a smartphone and people like me never think we’ll be targeted.”
However, when he saw a Facebook advert that looked like a news article claiming This Morning stars Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby had put money into an exciting investment scheme, the civil servant filled in an online form.
“Someone called me soon after and talked to me through it all. I initially invested £250 and they set me up with an account manager to teach me the ropes,” Mr Summerson said.
“I invested another £2,000 and I was happy making a bit of money slowly. I then put in £5,000 and straight away I was making up to £50 within minutes.”
Mr Summerson spoke to his ‘account manager’, who used the name ‘Marcus’, daily through messages and phone calls.
He added: “I know when something seems too good to be true it probably is but it seemed so genuine. He kept saying how it’s my money, he can’t touch it and he doesn’t make money unless I do.”
Everything crashed down
When Mr Summerson had built up a handsome profit, he tried to withdraw money – and everything came crashing down.
He was told if he wanted to withdraw his funds, which included his own investment of £12,250, he would need to pay 50 per cent of the total money back into the scheme.
Mr Summerson said: “My bank [Barclays] had questioned one of the transfers but Marcus told me banks will do this because they don’t want people buying crypto currency. I just relayed everything he told me.
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“So when I alerted them that I’d been scammed, they advised me there was nothing they could do as they believed they had done everything possible to prevent it in the first place.”
It looked like he had lost the lot. But his case was taken up by fraud lawyers at CEL Solicitors.
They took his case to the Financial Ombudsman and managed to recoup more than £10,500 which Mr Summerson describes as a “big relief”.
He added: “Everyone needs to be careful online, some scams are so detailed that anyone can be a victim.
“I think celebs and well-known faces should keep an eye out too, and make it clear on their platforms what they do and don’t endorse.”
Managing director at CEL Solicitors Paul Hampson described online scamming as “the wild west”.
“The level of sophistication in some scams is startling,” he said.
“Fraudsters are building relationships and trust with their victims, which makes the con all the more distressing when the target learns the truth.
“It’s a difficult lesson to learn, especially when banks and other authorities don’t jump in to help right away, which is why legal support is often advised when you have fallen victim to a scam.”
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