Tube worker desperate to pay for wife’s hospital bills lost £16,000 from fake celeb Bitcoin scam run by criminal gangs
Simon Aidoo, 54, invested the cash over the phone after seeing a Facebook story claiming Brits were quitting their jobs and making millions from the virtual currency.
A TUBE worker hoping to pay for his wife’s hospital treatment lost more than £16,000 after being conned by celeb Bitcoin adverts.
Simon Aidoo, 54, invested the cash over the phone after seeing a Facebook story claiming Brits were quitting their jobs and making millions from the virtual currency.
He was desperate to use the cash to pay for his wife to have an operation for arthritis in her knee which had left her almost unable to walk.
The social media advert presented testimonials from TV financial journalist Martin Lewis, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson and Dragons’ Den star Deboarah Meaden.
Celebs including Lord Sugar, Mr Lewis and Mr Branson have all complained about the use of their images on adverts and had no knowledge of the Bitcoin investment schemes.
Fraudsters posing as a real company called Zuercher Capital then inserted a link at the foot of the fake advert for people to click on to be able to invest.
He was just one of a string of victims we spoke to who have been conned over the phone by investment fraudsters following a Sun Online investigation.
One 79-year-old Scot believed fraudsters were still trying to retrieve £18,800 he had invested until we revealed he had been scammed.
And we spoke to another vulnerable 87-year-old grandad and his wife, also aged 87, who were unable to understand that they had been robbed of £7,500 by con men based abroad.
Describing his thought process when he was conned, tube platform worker Mr Aidoo said: “My Mrs had arthritis of the knee, because of that she was retired from her work – she can’t work properly.
“So I can use that money I have on my credit card to pay for the treatment but that would mean I will be stuck with a debt.
“So if this investment works as described then it is better to invest that money, make some profit, pay the credit card debt and at the same time be able to pay for the private treatment operation that she needs.
“So from there I was telling her ‘when you go to the hospital ask how much the treatment is going to cost’ – so because of that I said, ‘ok, I’ll take the plunge’.”
Mr Aidoo handed over a total of £16,000 including £750 to unlock a £9,000 bonus, which never came.
At one point he could see as much as £131,400 in his account but the firm would not authorise withdrawal.
He added of the Facebook ad scam: “I was certain it was legitimate because why else would it be a news story on my Facebook feed?
“People like Martin Lewis and Richard Branson are the people who have made lots of money. If you want to be like them, then you have to follow their steps.
“There should be a way by Facebook to ensure that fake adverts don't land on their platform.
“I feel scammed and stupid. Why did I not do due diligence to really research about the company before I put my money in? That isn't normally how I do things. I normally am sceptical."
Zuercher claims it is based in Zurich and operates internationally with a host of well-known banks.
But a Sun probe discovered the company is listed in Barbados - and its registered phone number has previously been linked to both a poker and a banking scam.
Zuercher's web page – using a logo similar to banking giant UBS - appears like a legitimate trading platform showing clients’ money but in fact they are unable to withdraw any of the cash.
When The Sun recorded Mr Aidoo's conversation with a Zuercher account manager, he fraudulently claimed that the firm was working with Goldman Sachs and said: "I am here to take care of you."
Other clone fraud victims across the UK have told of their shock and embarrassment at losing tens of thousands of pounds.
An unconnected gang based in Madrid, Spain, had targeted a vulnerable 79-year-old from Edinburgh who still believed the scammers were working on getting his money back when The Sun spoke to him.
The man - who we are not naming to protect his identity - was continuously targeted by the gang who eventually stole £18,800 in total from him by offering fake shares in Chinese firm Alipay – a subsidiary of the Alibaba Group.
He said: “I received a phone call from a broker in Hong Kong. I don’t know how he got my number.
“They said it was for a company that wasn’t set up yet. But then the company collapsed.
“It’s with another broker now. I don’t know what’s happening with it. They’re meant to be sorting it.”
When we informed him it was a scam that had stolen his money, he replied: “There’s crooks everywhere."
Another vulnerable 87-year-old granddad and his wife, also 87, from Cheltenham, Gloucs., invested £7,500 with the gang but still believed they had a chance of getting their money back.
The elderly grandmother said: “We’ve got another broker now. We don’t want to upset them because then they might not give us our money back.”
A retired bus driver and former soldier called Tony was also duped by the fraudsters calling themselves Grand Pacific Equity Limited from Hong Kong.
Documents show he invested more than £71,000 in the fake Alipay shares which has now left him “living on the breadline”.
He said: “I got sucked in. I was foolish and feel humiliated. I can’t bear people knowing – the whole thing just haunts me.
“I shouldn’t have been so stupid – most of my friends today still have no idea. I’m living on the breadline now.”
We also spoke to a single mum who lost an initial £350 to a fake company called Mayfair Trading nine months ago - which is in no way connected to legitimate firm the Mayfair Trading Company.
Tsian Penman, 22, from Birmingham, told The Sun that the fake firm claimed to invest in Bitcoin, Facebook, crude oil, gold, silver and lots of different currencies from around the world.
Tsian said: “It wasn't a lot of money, but any amount is a lot if you're not going to get it back. If I had trusted them and put thousands into it then I'd be left distraught, with nothing.
“I have a child, a house, things to pay for.”
More Sun investigations
A spokesman for City of London police, who lead nationally on fraud crime, said: "It is extremely worrying to hear that some victims believe that the fraudsters will return their money.
"Investment fraudsters will use the promise of funds being returned to lure victims into investing more money, when in reality it is all part of the fraud.
"Sometimes people don’t realise or believe that they have fallen victim to a fraudulent scheme which prevents them from reporting to Action Fraud."
The force are investigating fraudsters Zuercher Capital while high-street banks the outfit claim to be associated with have taken steps to have their branding removed from the firm's web page.