British man lost $100,000 in crypto scam but there was a happy ending (report)

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Simon Hoadley – a 66-year-old retired financial adviser who lives in East Sussex, UK – was allegedly the victim of a “horrible” cryptocurrency scam that drained him of nearly $100,000.

Fortunately, legal experts managed to recover almost all the lost funds.

Scammers have no mercy

As reported by Mirror, Hoadley was looking to earn extra money during the COVID-19 pandemic as his father died of cancer, while his wife lived in a nursing home. At that time, he was contacted by a company that claimed to be made up of investment specialists and advised him to distribute his savings in digital currencies.

Hoadley agreed and he first saw a return on his investment. However, the person he was in contact with stopped responding to him at some point as his wallet began to decline rapidly. In the process, the man handed over $100,000 to the criminals.

“It was horrible. My dad was dying of cancer and I was living alone because my wife is in a care facility three hours away,” Hoadley said.

Once he realized he had been tricked, he went to his local bank to find a way to get his money back. The financial institution urged him to reveal everything to his family because the case could not have been solved without the efforts of the police.

“I have four adult children who were devastated when they found out. They had always admired me, but in a year, I completely changed. It was really hard for them to see,” Hoadly said.

Unlike other previous scams, which resulted in total losses for the investors, the legal experts managed to return over $95,000 of the sum to the man. Hoadley said he used the money to buy a mobile home near where his wife lives.

Other similar cases in the UK

The UK has recently become a hotbed of cryptocurrency scams, with some people losing large sums.

A Briton, whose name has not been disclosed, parted ways with $200,000 after a woman posing as a successful cryptocurrency investor with “inside knowledge” scammed him. She also told him that they could build a wealthy lifestyle with the promised profits from the dubious investment. The man was so devastated after the loss that he even considered taking his own life.

“I realized I needed help straight away and went straight to my mum. If I didn’t have that support, I wouldn’t be here. I was going to do something that wouldn’t leave me more here,” he revealed.

Another woman who lives in Nottinghamshire lost the same amount after a stranger who introduced himself as a US Army surgeon urged her to transfer funds to him in a particular bitcoin wallet so he could end his contract and join her. Turns out it was just a romance scam and the scammer never showed up.

Local police teamed up with the woman’s bank and managed to return more than half of the lost money. Still, the pensioner urged others to be extra careful when dating online.

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