A TERMINALLY ill pensioner lost £140,000 to a scammer posing as Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.
Valerie Horwood, 81, was sent a Facebook message by the con artist claiming to be Blackmore.
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The OAP was duped into buying hundreds of Apple gift cards for him, which the fraudster claimed she would get back with benefits.
Valerie was sworn to secrecy by the Facebook user due to his so-called celebrity status.
But her family grew suspicious when she asked to borrow £2,000 to pay her bills.
She was left so traumatised by the con that Valerie attempted suicide.
Daughter Debbie, 58, was then horrified when she looked at her mum’s bank account and discovered all her money was missing.
She said: “She was pulled into a false sense of security thinking she had this really good friend who was a famous person. She really did not believe us when we told her that it was a scam.
“Her world just completely fell apart. She couldn’t comprehend what had happened.
“It is a hard thing to take on that you have just given all of your money away to a scammer.
“It is a very crafty scam.
“I have been through the worst emotional rollercoaster with it all.”
The scammer communicated with Valerie, who has terminal cancer, through an app called Signal.
The pensioner had been to school with Blackmore, who founded the British rock band.
She deleted the app but then began receiving messages on WhatsApp asking for more money.
Between a three-year period, she lost around £140,000 buying Apple gift cards.
Valerie would send the codes to the scammer who was then able to redeem them.
Debbie said: “We all went into shock. My mum is not a stupid old lady. She is very streetwise and very switched on.
“She was probably quite lonely. She was enjoying the chats that they were having.
“It is quite heartbreaking that she was sucked in. I never would have guessed that my mum would be so vulnerable like that.”
Valerie has now moved in with her daughter, who has become a full-time carer.
She has been left heartbroken after having no money left to live out her last wishes.
The pensioner had also been hoping to visit her grandson who lives in Antigua, which the family can no longer afford.
Debbie managed to claw back £12,500 from Tesco where some of the voucher money was spent.
She is now hoping other supermarkets where the majority of the cash was used will do the same.
A JustGiving has also been launched to help Valerie claw some of her savings back.
Debbie said: “We are fighting for justice for my mum and to recoup her money so that she can decide what she wants to do with it in her time left.
“My mum may need to go to a nursing home soon, and that’s what she could be using her money for. Not for some scammers to go and buy a Rolex watch or a smart car.”
What is gift card fraud?
GIFT card fraud is a crime on the rise in the UK with criminals duping vulnerable people into buying them vouchers.
Fraudsters then ask for the codes so they can redeem the cards then re-sell them or convert them into cash online.
Action Fraud said in 2019, 3,686 people lost money in scams totalling £5,957,430.
Between January 1 and July 31 this year, there have been 4,582 victims who have lost £10,631,219.
Hampshire Police, who is investigating Valerie’s case, has this advice:
- When speaking to someone online, be aware that they may not be who they say they are
- Slow down. Before you send money, talk with someone you trust
- Do some research: search online to see if you can see any information regarding a similar “scam.” Do the same with any charity or cause they’re asking you to support
- Never send money, gift cards or prepaid debit cards to someone you don’t know or haven’t met
- If you sent money to a scammer, contact the company you used to send the money (your bank, wire transfer service, gift card company, or prepaid debit card company). Tell them the transaction was a fraud. Ask the company to reverse the transaction, if it’s possible
- Report your experience to the social media site in question. If a fraud has already taken place, report it to Action Fraud and Police
- If you are a friend, relative or carer of someone you think might be vulnerable to this type of scam, please speak to them about this advice. You might be the person who helps prevent them becoming a victim to this type of fraud.
Waitrose, MorrisonsTesco and Boots confirmed they are working with staff to prevent similar frauds.
Hampshire Police said: “Over the past eight months, our officers have worked with the victim and her family to identify all possible lines of enquiry, as well as offering support and safeguarding advice to help prevent her kindness and generosity from being targeted again.
“It appears that there was a technical fault which meant that screenshots from the app, used by scammers to communicate with the victim, were not retrieved.
“Despite phone examinations by officers and several requests to the app provider, it has not been possible to recover them.
“Sophisticated scams such as this are purposely designed to target the most vulnerable, preying on their willingness to help others, without leaving much of an electronic footprint which makes them incredibly difficult to investigate.
“At this time, we have updated the victim that this investigation has been filed, pending any further evidence that we receive.
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116123.
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