Let’s Peek At Some Wild Scam Stories That’ll Make You Go “No Way!”

So here’s the scoop: my mom started spending heaps of money on this 30-year-old married dude. I told her, "Girl, why would he want you?" But nope, she wasn’t having it. She racked up over £10,000 (hello, loans and credit cards!). Ended up selling her house and moving into a council flat, buried in debt. Lesson? Listen to your kids!

Met a middle-aged divorced guy who fell for a get-rich-quick scheme after a hot young woman charmed him in a bar. He got engaged after one meeting and a bazillion texts, then - poof! - she vanished with his £60k. Unreal, right?

Then there’s my mom, who got a call from 'Amazon' warning about fraud. She almost spilled her bank details, but thankfully, she’s blind and couldn’t read her card's security number. I swooped in, told her to hang up, and crisis avoided. Old people, beware - scammers are ruthless!

My elderly neighbor was crying after admitting he’d been scammed out of about £30,000 - his entire life savings! The scam started with an 'investment' of just £500, then he got £800 credited to his account (sweet, right?), so he went all in. Then silence. Scam over. Police? No help. It’s like he got scammed into scamming himself!

Picture this: your phone is lost, you text your mom begging for help, and bam! Scammer alert! A friend of mine fell for this one. Classic but still painfully effective.

When I was younger, I got scammed out of £800 by someone pretending to be a reliable tradesperson. Yeah, not life-changing money, but still plenty to make me stressed and mad. Lesson? Watch out for fake pros!

A friend’s mom, in her seventies and with health issues, got caught up in a romance scam claiming to be from an 'American soldier.' She sent tens of thousands before anyone realized. Sad story.

Then another friend got a call from 'her bank' saying her savings were at risk. She gave them remote access to her banking and - bam! - every penny was gone.

Here’s a tricky one: a friend’s elderly mother-in-law got a call from scammers pretending to be her bank. She told them she wanted to call her bank directly. Guess what? Scammers stayed on the line, kept pretending, and got her to cough up £30,000. Sneaky sneaky!

A coworker’s Russian girlfriend texted about being stuck in customs needing 2k to get out. He nearly sent it - until he asked the boss for money first. Boss took one look and said, "Bro, that's a scam!" Crisis averted.

Needed to send £10k, and the bank made me call them and grill me like I was on a game show for 20 minutes before releasing the cash. A total pain, but hey, at least they’re trying to stop the scammers (or protect themselves, whatever).

I once bought vouchers for a good deal, but the item was out of stock and the voucher couldn’t be redeemed. Never again!

Also tried renting a flat from a 'friendly' landlord who turned out to be a scammer. Luckily I smelled the rat in time and canceled the cheque.

And yeah, I’ve seen some pretty convincing phishing emails too, but I’m still standing strong!

One of my coworkers got scammed out of a bunch of money by a man she met online. Everyone warned her, but she was 100% sure he was the real deal. Spoiler: he wasn’t.

Know a brilliantly smart man who still got scammed out of big money in a crypto con. No one’s immune here, people!

Some people still fall for the classic movie star romance scam. Like this lady who was convinced it was Gerard Butler wooing her. If my mom told me that, I’d call BS so fast her head would spin.

My mom nearly wired money to scammers claiming her bank branch was shady and she needed to transfer funds for safety. The bank teller got curious, made her talk to the manager, and bam! Scam stopped just in time. Mom can’t lie, luckily!

My teenage son’s brand-new bank card got cloned four times in four months - before the card was even in his hands! The bank weirdly refunded all charges, but I’m suspicious it was an inside job. Spooky!

My sister-in-law got caught up with someone online and borrowed 7 grand to send to him. Spoiler: things didn’t end well.

Once got scammed out of £250 by a driving instructor. Didn’t get my cash back, but reported him for tax fraud and got a little sweet revenge when the newspapers covered it a year later. Take that, scammer!

I got a call from scammers pretending to be my bank, with my bank’s own phone number. Thought they were confirming a purchase I made. Hung up when I realized it was a scam and called my bank - only, I accidentally called the scammers again! They told me I couldn’t block my account until next morning, then tried buying stuff with my card. Luckily, my real bank froze my card and refunded me. Stressful but all ended okay.

My husband paid £1,500 to fake bank details after the tradesman’s email got hacked. He’s a lawyer, no fool!

Also, a friend's mom with dementia lost about £80,000 sending money to 'investments' and 'charities.' Police and friends tried to help, but she kept sending cash. Heartbreaking.

A bunch of my friends and family got scammed for between £400 and £1,000 each by a friend's husband. Police got involved, the couple left the country, but the husband recently got arrested for fraud out there. Drama central!

Mom sold a pricey item online and got paid with fake notes! Can't believe she didn't see how obviously fake they were. Rookie mistake?

An older, sick in-law got a call from a scammer pretending to be her son begging for money due to ‘financial trouble.’ She lost a few thousand, but luckily, the bank returned the money. Still, it was heartbreaking.

Met a woman who fell for the classic American Soldier romance scam. She was lonely and young, and even though it looked fishy, she enjoyed the attention. Unfortunately, she couldn’t afford the money she sent away.

I won’t say exactly how I got scammed out of £15k because it’s embarrassing. It wasn’t a romance or overseas thing, but it wrecked me emotionally and financially. I just don’t get how scammers sleep at night.

Neighbor’s dad donated £50k to a real animal charity, but the letters begging for more never stopped. Friend got scammed for €10,000 renting a flat that didn’t exist. Desperate times and clever scammers.

My 90-year-old Dad got scammed by some guy claiming his roof needed fixing. Dad drove to the bank, got cash, paid the guy - who vanished like a magician. No work done, no guy seen again. Police said, "Sorry." I was fuming he got targeted like that.

My neighbor got tricked out of £45k by someone claiming to be from her bank’s fraud squad. Despite the cash gone, she still thinks the ‘nice man’ (probably not his real name) was legit. Gotta love that optimism!

My mom scammed my grandma out of thousands of pounds. They ended up in civil court over it, and it’s one of the many reasons I don’t talk to her anymore. Family drama at its finest.

A buddy’s mom got scammed by a guy pretending to be a US Army Master Sergeant deployed overseas. I broke down how much a real sergeant makes, showed she was being played, and convinced her to block the fake soldier. She lost about $10k, though - ouch.

Friend’s mother-in-law got an email 'from a friend' asking her to buy supermarket vouchers and send the codes. She did it twice before her daughter caught on. She lost about £300. Watch those emails, folks!

I was at a supermarket on holiday with an expensive bottle of booze. It scanned, but somehow someone ahead of me walked off with it. When I asked for another bottle, staff accused me of trying to scam them. I was so stressed, but then realized I hadn’t paid yet and just walked out to another store. Crisis avoided!

I work at a shop selling vouchers. I can’t tell you how often I’ve said 'no' to elderly people who are being ripped off by scammers pretending to be Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, or even their childhood crushes. Also, young workers getting fooled by fake boss prize giveaways. Scam artists don’t discriminate!

I know a self-employed woman whose secretary scammed her out of thousands. The court got involved, but money was gone.

Also, a consultant doctor’s cleaning lady swiped their joint savings during a messy divorce, splurging on a conservatory and a motorbike. Ouch!

Years ago, my husband leased a van and decided to buy it at the end of the lease. The leasing company said they’d been taken over by a big bank closing that part of business and gave him a sweet price. Sent a cheque, got the paperwork, all good.

Until three months later when a bailiff showed up to repossess it! Turned out someone cashed our cheque fraudulently (probably a disgruntled ex-employee). Luckily, the bank sorted it and my husband kept the van.

My intelligent dad fell head over heels for a stunning woman in Russia. Sent her money for trips, holidays, and eventually flew there for a visit. She got ‘Covid’ and couldn’t meet him. Then the tragic news: she died. He was crushed, especially since his real partner had died just two years before. He still believes the scam story. Sad stuff.

I thought I scored a bargain on a Joules closing down sale and happily dropped £160 on goodies. Then I noticed the confirmation email was from a dodgy address. So I freaked, called the bank, got a new card instantly, and my money refunded next day. Lesson learned!

Also, a work colleague spent four years and over €30,000 divorcing a super young Tunisian husband. That’s a drama for another day!

So, two friends fell for different scams. One got a call saying his bank account wasn’t safe and had to move money; thankfully, the bank refunded him fully. Same guy met an online ‘friend’ who claimed financial troubles and was sent money daily to cover food and small expenses. That stopped when a new app rule blocked the transfers. Then, another friend had some guy hit on him at a bar, ‘couldn’t go home with him’ that night, but wanted to meet again - and sneakily sent money to himself from my friend’s banking app. Sneaky!

Grandad got a text saying he needed to pay 99p via the NHS app for his vaccine certificate. He paid up, but at the same time, scammers emptied his bank account. 99p vs. empty wallet. Not a fair trade!

Friend’s husband got a call from ‘his bank’ saying he had to move his entire business account balance due to fraud. It was actually scammers, but luckily, he got the money back after the bank admitted fault... maybe.

Not exactly me, but I went to school with someone who made the news for scamming pensioners out of life savings via call center schemes. Can’t imagine anyone I know falling for romance scams, though.

Grandpa (in his late 70s/80s) fell for a much younger woman he met at church. He sent her big bucks for studies, travel, and even rent on a flat. They were ‘engaged’ and he got a ring for her. Turns out she was living with her boyfriend the whole time. They confronted her, but the money was gone and so was she. Grandpa passed away not long after.

Ten years ago, friends got calls from ‘their bank’ about fraudulent activity. They gave info (including pin), then a motorbike courier came to take their bank cards ‘for safety.’ By the time they realized they'd been scammed and called their real bank, hundreds were gone. Sneaky and stressful!

Know someone with a fancy IT job who booked a holiday villa online, paid £5k, and it turned out to be a total fake. No idea if they got any money back, but proof that scammers go after everyone!

Got one of those classic 'mum I lost my phone' texts. Lucky for me and my son, we use a weird, unique sign-off, so I instantly knew it wasn’t him. Not planned, but it totally saved me from getting scammed!

My husband was chatting with what he thought was Paypal on Facebook during a stressful time, but accidentally gave bank details to a faker. As soon as he realized, we called the bank, canceled the card, and saved the day. Could have been way worse!

Dad nearly got scammed by someone pretending to be from TalkTalk, insisting he send money via Western Union. Thankfully, a neighbor flagged it.
Another friend lost £10,000 in some sort of dodgy investment scheme - details fuzzy, but it involved persuasive folks and bad luck.

Once fell for a romance scam on Guardian Soulmates - wasn’t a huge amount but felt dumb.

Also got an older relative who chased the classic Nigerian Prince emails and scams for years, wrangling others into handing over cash too. Lucky they didn’t end up in jail!

My relative made decent money trading crypto until life threw some curveballs, and then boom! Lost over six figures to a sprawling international crypto scam. FBI got involved but haven’t caught the bad guys yet.

My dad got scammed for just under £14,000. It was horrible and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Stay safe out there!

My DP lost £50,000 scam story is long and messy. I kept telling her to stop throwing good money after bad, but she was convinced just a little more would fix it. Turns out lots of people got scammed. No one got a dime back.