Simon Hoadley, 66, said he was looking for new ways to invest because he needed the money: his father is terminally ill with cancer and his wife is in a nursing home. Hoadley invested in cryptocurrencies through a certain company allegedly specializing in investments.
The man initially invested £250 (about $317), and after seeing a profit coming in, he ended up handing over £80,000 (about $102,000) to the firm. Soon his investment returns began to dwindle, and the intermediary stopped contacting him.
Realizing he had been scammed, Hoadley sought advice from a friend who was also in the financial industry.. He advised him to go to the bank, where it turned out that fraudsters had withdrawn $5,000 from Hoadley’s account;
The defrauded investor then turned to an anti-fraud company for help, which contacted the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). In the end, lawyers were able to recover more than £75,000 (about $95,300) for the man.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has repeatedly warned of the risks of investing in crypto-assets. The agency recently urged digital asset companies to comply with requirements to promote their services by October 2023. In addition, the UK Parliament has approved a bill making it easier to seize and freeze crypto-assets linked to criminal activity.