This case study was previously featured on BBC’s Morning Live.
Fraud is the most common crime in the UK, with billions lost each year. Advanced Fee fraud – where a person is convinced to pay an upfront fee or deposit – is becoming more common. There are now nearly 400,000 incidents of advanced fee scams committed annually in the UK.
Geraint Davies from North Wales was scammed out of £17,000 by an advanced fee scam when a builder agreed and then absconded with his deposit.
After the passing of his father, Mr Davies received an inheritance which he wanted to use to improve his and his family’s lives.
“We wanted to do something to look back on and think he has really helped us out, even though he’s not here. It was a nice gesture that we could use it for something worthwhile that was going to change our lives” – Mr Davies.
To do this, Mr Davies decided to improve his home. Naturally, he started by looking for well-reviewed contracts and consulted Companies House to make sure they were legitimate.
Mr Davies found Acorn Landscaping Contractors LTD, a company which on first impression seemed to be a trustworthy choice.
“He had a look around, took some measurements and sent some figures through that day. […] he turned up and he said that was his company name. He had the company name on the side of his van. You take people sometimes at face value.”
For the work, Mr Davies was quoted a £24,000 total cost, but with a £17,000 upfront deposit to pay for the materials and secure the work.
Sadly, after making the bank transfer to pay the deposit, the excuses from the contractor began.
“It came to the first part where the scaffolding was supposed to go up and it didn’t happen. Then it was the weather, then he was busy doing something. Then unfortunately he sent a message saying his father had passed away.
“We were starting to get an uncomfortable feeling that something wasn’t right. We would message him and say ‘Listen you’ve got a lot going on, you give us the money back and we’ll come back around to it when we’re both free to get the work done’.
“He said there was a problem with his bank, that his account had been frozen, then it went another few days, few weeks, then there was silence, there were no messages back.”
Getting the deposit back
By this point, Mr Davies understood that the work would never be completed and that simply asking for his money wouldn’t get his deposit back from the builder.
“I felt empty inside and that I’d thrown away my inheritance and what money we had to do anything memorable with. That I’d just given it to somebody to just line his own pockets.”
Fortunately, after contacting CEL Solicitors for help and advice, our fraud and scam recovery experts were able to recover nearly £12,000 of the stolen money.
“I felt light again. I felt like I had a spring in my step. We were actually going to be able to do nice things again, not going to have to worry month to month.”
Jessica Hampson, the founder and CEO of CEL Solicitors offered: “We found that Mr Davies acted completely reasonably. He had a look at reviews, and he spoke to them in person. It would make sense for him to give the deposit he gave.
“The bank should have picked up on large amounts of money rapidly going into his account and out of his account to this new payee. The bank had no intervention whatsoever despite the obvious red flags of fraud. The bank had an opportunity in both of those cases to refund without other organisations getting involved, but this just isn’t what we’re seeing.
“You trust the bank to protect your money and they do have a duty of care to the consumers. Unfortunately, there is a culture of victim blaming, but these scams are so sophisticated that ultimately, we all need to be in this together to fight fraud.”
If you have lost money to an advanced fee scam, you may be able to recover your money, even if the fraudster has disappeared. Tell CEL today by calling 0808 273 0900 or begin your claim online.
