Man who lost €80k scammed again for 'admin fee' to recover funds
The Garda That Years Past Tim Was From Almost In Picture: Stolen Show Victims Irish Four Goode/pa €60m Figures
A man who lost €80,000 in one investment fraud was targeted in a fresh ruse in which he was asked for an administration fee of €8,000 to help recover the funds from the first scam.
The details of the case were revealed on Monday in a report from FraudSMART, the fraud awareness initiative led by Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, which also warns that people over 50 preparing for their retirement are being targeted by fraudsters.
The group's head of financial crime, Niamh Davenport, said: “We are now seeing a worrying trend emerging where fraudsters are contacting people who have already fallen victim to an investment scam, promising to recover their money but requiring an upfront fee first, sometimes describing it as a ‘retainer fee’ or ‘processing fee’.”
Ms Davenport says that, while so-called “recovery scams” can be perpetrated by the same criminals behind the first scam, there are other cases where the victim’s personal information has been passed on or sold to other criminals.
She added: “The fraudster, using the information from the previous scam, can ‘helpfully’ tell the victim about the earlier fraud, which can make them sound credible.
The man who lost a total of €88,000 in two scams had researched investment opportunities online and clicked on a fake comparison website showing different "investment options", ranging from green bonds, government bonds, and other medium term investment opportunities.
He was persuaded to make a series of payments to an "investment account" and he received regular emails from the "agent", which appeared to show positive returns. However, the correspondence ended after he made his last payment.
Six months later, he got a call from a person who claimed to be from a "refund recovery firm" who told him that he could recover the funds he had lost if he paid an "administration fee" — which would be refunded. He became suspicious when he didn’t get any response from the "refund recovery firm", and his case is now under investigation.
Ms Davenport said that FraudSMART members have noticed “a continued and significant increase in the past few months often targeting people over 50 who may be looking for an opportunity to top up their finances ahead of retirement”.
Garda figures show that almost €60m was stolen from Irish victims in the past four years.