MONEY PLOT

OAP, 70s, has €190k stolen in ‘sophisticated’ scam as major investment fraud warning issued after victims hit for €60m

Gardai have outlined exactly how to avoid becoming a victim

• Published: 0:01, 5 Apr 2024

• Published: Invalid Date,

A VULNERABLE old man was scammed out of over €190,000 earlier this year after investing cash in what he thought was a legitimate company.

And Gardai have issued a major fraud warning after more than 965 people were duped out of almost €60 million through false investment schemes over the last four years.

A whopping €25 million was stolen from victims of investment fraud in Ireland last year – almost equal to the €14m stolen in 2021 and the €11.5m taken from victims in 2022 combined.

Investment fraud is where criminals pose as investment managers to fool someone into investing money in schemes and projects that don’t exist.

Gardai said criminals are promising “once in a lifetime opportunities” to their victims and taking advantage by cloning webpages and targeting victims through social media.

The “sophisticated criminals” are claiming that people who instantly invest their money will benefit from “fast and large” financial returns.

The OAP, aged in his 70s, that was swindled out of over €190,000, was based in the east of Ireland and believed that he was investing in a legitimate British company.

And he is just one of hundreds who has fallen victim to one of these scams.

In May 2023, a man in his 40’s clicked on a social media link advertising investment opportunities and entered his contact details.

He was later contacted by phone from a person purporting to be from a reputable financial institution about purchasing bank bonds and lost €100,000.

Another victim, aged in his 60s, was contacted online about investing with a British financial institution in 2023.

After being convinced by the person he was communicating with, he transferred funds and had €300,000 stolen.

A fourth man had a massive €121,000 stolen in a “particularly sophisticated crime” that allowed the victim to access an online trading app that appeared to show his funds being traded.

The victim, 50s, understood that he was legitimately engaged in online trading and was communicating with someone online who had encouraged him into it – but the app turned out to be a fake.