The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Kathryn Williams
An elderly couple who lost their £80,000 life savings to a fraudster pretending to be endorsed by Martin Lewis claim they were told by their account holder Revolut to use a foodbank when they asked for their money back.
Retirees Barbara and Ewan Atkins*, 78, paid nearly £80,000 to a scammer who told them that they were investing in bitcoin and got them to use popular e-money platform Revolut to avoid fraud checks.
The conman explained how to set up accounts with Wise, Binance and Revolut, which the couple had never heard of, before giving them instructions on how to avoid triggering fraud prevention processes.
But when they tried to withdraw their money and were told they needed to make more payments, the couple realised they had been scammed. They told their daughter and son-in-law, who contacted the banks to report the fraud.
But Revolut’s response left a lot to be desired, the family said, especially when a complaint response included a link to a foodbank website and the Age UK website.
The pensioners were convinced that the scammer was a real investment expert because they believed the investment was backed by consumer journalist Martin Lewis (pictured)
Revolut’s response left a lot to be desired, the family said, especially when a complaint response included a link to a foodbank website and the Age UK website
It comes as senior industry insiders have raised serious concerns about Revolut’s ability to deal with cases of fraud and money laundering and said the e-money institution, which is not a bank in the UK, is the ‘vehicle of choice’ for fraudsters.
Mr and Mrs Atkins moved back to the UK from France a year ago. In late February, they spotted an advert for Bitcoin online, seemingly backed by consumer journalist Martin Lewis, and thought it would be a good opportunity to make their savings go a bit further.
They clicked through and were called by a man calling himself Michael Hampton, who had a profile online that they thought made him look like a ‘dynamic international investor’.
He told them that their bank, Barclays, would question the large transactions and that the couple should tell them they were planning a big purchase.
Barclays did flag the payments as unusual and called the couple to make sure they were happy to move the money.
The scammer then talked the Atkinses through setting up an account with Wise, a foreign exchange service that was founded in 2011, so that they could invest in bitcoin.
They sent £10,000 to the account, which was flagged by Wise and the account was shut.
The fraudster then talked the pensioners into setting up a Revolut account, telling them that only the first payment would be flagged on the system.
Over the next few days, the couple made 14 transactions of between £3,000 and £5,000, encouraged at every step of the way by the supposed ‘investment manager’, who called them repeatedly each day.
The first transaction prompted a warning message from Revolut, as the scammer said that it would, but none of the other transactions were challenged.
The pensioners received daily updates on their nearly £65,000 ‘investment’, which they were told had nearly doubled in value in just four weeks.
But when they tried to withdraw the money, they were told by the fraudsters that they needed to pay £10,000 for capital gains tax.
At this point, Mr and Mrs Atkins realised that they had been duped and told their daughter and son-in-law what had happened.
But it wasn’t until they got in touch with the Barclays fraud team that they realised how much money had been lost.
Barclays told the pensioners that as it had warned them about the payments and called them before the money left their account it would not refund them the money they had lost.
Revolut first told the couple that there had been ‘no trace’ of fraudulent activity and then said they would not reimburse them – and sent a number of links, in the hope that ‘this information helps you understand the situation and stay safe in the future’.
Revolut was founded in 2015 by former Credit Suisse and Lehman Brothers trader Nik Storonsky, 38, and Vlad Yatsenko, 39 (file image)
Their son-in-law and daughter said they were ‘disgusted’ at how dismissive Revolut had been.
They said they couldn’t believe the fraud processes at the online platform hadn’t picked up the unusual payments more quickly and that the initial response from Revolut said that they weren’t fraudulent.
Their daughter added: ‘It’s a permanent weight on our minds. We were shell shocked as well that my parents had been scammed like that.’
She said sending a link to a foodbank showed Revolut’s lack of interest, insensitivity and lackadaisical approach.
‘Everybody knows about foodbanks, so we didn’t need to see that as a link from Revolut.’
Barbara and Ewan have taken their case to the financial ombudsman.
A senior industry insider, a director of compliance at a large firm, said Revolut is the ‘vehicle of choice’ for money launderers and fraudsters (file image)
A senior industry insider, a director of compliance at a large firm, said Revolut is the ‘vehicle of choice’ for money launderers and fraudsters.
They expressed concerns that businesses were struggling to flag potentially fraudulent accounts to the e-money institution.
Recent figures for Revolut suggest it has been struggling with protecting customers against fraud, with the number of crime reports made to Action Fraud ballooning to 7,198 last year, up 81 per cent from 3,975 in 2021.
That was the fourth highest figure for any firm offering current account-style services, trailing only Barclays, Lloyds and Santander.
The data also accounts for cases where the fraudsters funnel money through Revolut accounts, or when an identity has been stolen and a fake account set up.
Revolut, which offers current account services but is not a bank in the UK, announced in early March that it would be getting its banking licence ‘imminently’.
Revolut is different in this sense to rival challenger banks, which are relatively small retail banks set up to compete with larger more traditional financial institutions.
Revolut – worth £28billion according to its most recent valuation – reported its first ever profit, of £26million, for 2021 in February, as turnover tripled to £636m during the cryptocurrency boom.
The challenger bank is not signed up to the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM) in the UK, a voluntary agreement between banks that they will repay victims of some kinds of fraud.
A Wise spokesman said: ‘We are truly sorry to learn of the scam Mr and Mrs Atkins have fallen victim to.
‘We’re currently investigating the case and will be in touch with them directly regarding updates on the remaining funds.’
Gareth Shaw, deputy editor at Martin Lewis’s website MoneySavingExpert.com, said: ‘Sadly, this is similar to scams we’ve been seeing for years.
‘Please know – and spread the word if you can – that neither MoneySavingExpert nor Martin Lewis ever endorse products or investments.
‘Here at MSE, we find it so frustrating and disheartening that many scammers get away with it. It’s why MSE and Martin Lewis have always tried to close down their routes to the general public and create awareness through campaigning.’
A Barclays spokesperson said: ‘We have every sympathy with our customer who was a victim of a sophisticated investment scam.
‘We urge everyone to stay vigilant to fraudulent investment opportunities.
‘Please take steps to satisfy yourself that the person or business you are investing through is legitimate and who you think it is, and check the FCA website and warning list to ensure they are a regulated financial firm before transferring any funds.
‘Remember, if the investment seems too good to be true, it probably is.’
A Revolut spokesman said: ‘We are very sorry that Mr and Mrs Atkins were targeted by ruthless and highly sophisticated criminals.
‘We take our responsibility to protect and support our customers extremely seriously and have made significant investments in our systems, processes and people to ensure that our customers are safe.
‘When making an investment, we urge everyone to take steps to satisfy themselves that the person they are sending money to is legitimate. We encourage customers to check the investment company is genuine and a regulated firm. If in doubt, seek trusted independent financial advice first.’
The e-money institution said it was ‘deeply concerned’ about frauds involving fake social media advertisements and fake phone calls.
