I paid £70,000 to fraudsters – can Santander help?

theguardian.com:

I have been scammed out of £70,000 by fraudsters who posed as Citibank agents to sell me a high-interest savings bond.

I have multiple sclerosis and have had to retire early because of my worsening vision, and this episode has left me sick with worry.

In January I was contacted by email and phone by several individuals purporting to work for Citi. I was reassured because I found their names on the Financial Services Register, and the correspondence had the correct registration number, as well as the Financial Services Compensation Scheme logo.

I have banked with Santander for many years, and only my disability benefits are paid in each month, with my household expenses going out.

The individuals convinced me to buy a one-year fixed-rate bond supposedly paying 11%, and I transferred £70,000 in three payments from my bank account.

I reported this sad saga to Santander and Action Fraud. I have also cancelled my passport and notified the Land Registry, as I was worried about what they might do to my home. I don’t hold out much hope for the police, or Santander’s response. SD, Ely

This is an awful story and, as a retired lawyer, you are devastated at having been duped. The criminals hooked you in with the promise of ultra-high returns and kept up the pretence in slick correspondence, which included a worthless “digital bond certificate”.

Investment scams are the second most common type of authorised push payment (APP) fraud, where the customer is tricked into authorising a payment to an account controlled by a criminal, with £61.2m stolen this way in the first six months of 2022 alone.

The criminals had gained information about your finances through either a direct phishing attempt or a third party, and then used the