UK woman and partner scammed out of £24,700 in online scam; How horrific story unfolded

Losing your hard earned money to scammers and fraudsters not only makes you suffer financially but also leaves you devastated and the future of your business in a limbo as a huge financial loss can even mean it may need to be shut down. Something similar has happened to a 28 year old woman named Kristina Belkaite who runs a street food stall with business partner Fabien Battu. According to a report by The Sun, both the business partners have lost over £24,700 to scammers in June and are now stressed whether they will be able to keep the business afloat.

The scammers fooled them by claiming that they were calling from their bank, Tide and said that hackers had compromised their account and in order to keep their cash safe the business partners will have to open a new bank account. Belkaite and Battu were suspicious of the call but got persuaded seeing that the caller had personal information such as transaction details and sounded professional.

According to the report, the fraudster sent them an email with a QR code in it in order to open a new bank account and keep their cash safe. As soon as they scanned the QR code, the scammer were able to access their account. "The scammer set up a bank transfer to move £24,700 to the so-called "safe" account," the report by the Sun informed.

The fraudster further said that the new card and account information would arrive in the post within a couple of days. However, the business partners later realised that they have been cheated and have lost their hard earned money.

They logged on to their Tide app to report the fraud and the bank is now offering a full refund plus £500 in compensation.

Though Belkaite and Battu got their money back, it is not always the case. Hence it is advised to be very careful and conscious before clicking on any suspicious link. Here are some of the points you need to keep in mind in order to stay alert and safe from fraudsters.

How to stay safe from online scams

1. Check the background of the callers or their email id to ensure they are authentic officials of the bank or not.

2. Cross check by giving a call to your bank (make sure you take the contact number from the bank's official website). You can also visit the bank if required.

3. If you think you have been scammed, you need to immediately inform your bank about the same.

4. A bank will never call you with such an excuse and it will also never ask you to provide your username, bank account number, password, QR Code or offer to transfer your money to a new account.