"On Indian matrimonial site Jeevansathi, meaning "life partner" in Hindi, he started talking to a woman who said her name was Rekha Shah. After months of talking on WhatsApp and video calls, she asked him if he would invest in crypto trading with her - a decision which caused him to lose his life savings and left him feeling suicidal."
"Victims in London account for just under 14m of that total, with 1,276 reports of romance fraud in the capital. The average victim lost 11,222, but Varun lost far more, totalling around 40,000. This comes as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said banks are missing opportunities to help "break the spell" of romance scams. They said some banks had gone to significant lengths to protect customers against romance fraud, but advised further measures, such as better detection and monitoring systems,"
"Varun was initially cautious when asked to invest in cryptocurrency using a platform called Deuncoin, but was initially able to gain and withdraw money. He was not aware of anything wrong until he made a big loss and the woman asked him to put in all his savings to recover the losses. He then found he was unable to withdraw the funds, and realised "it was all one big scam"."
A London banker was targeted on a matrimonial site and cultivated through months of WhatsApp and video contact before being asked to invest in a crypto trading scheme. The victim initially withdrew gains but later suffered a major loss and was persuaded to invest all his savings, then found he could not withdraw funds. Romance fraud in the UK led to an estimated 106m lost in the past financial year, with nearly 14m affecting London and an average reported loss of 11,222. The Financial Conduct Authority urged banks to improve detection, identify vulnerability early, train staff, and provide compassionate aftercare.
Read at www.bbc.com
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