WhatsApp scam: ‘I was traumatised after losing £18,000 to a sophisticated scam’

• Anna was offered extra work for a ‘well-known travel website’ by WhatsApp.
• She had a trainer and was told she was making money - but had to pay to secure it.
• The 63-year-old is now warning others to watch out for the scams.

A mum has been left traumatised after losing more than £18,000 to a sophisticated WhatsApp scam. The 63-year-old had been led to believe she was earning money from the scheme, but in fact it was leaving her out of pocket.

Having set her sights on a new kitchen for her home, Anna (not her real name) from Croydon, accepted an offer she received via the popular messaging app claiming to be extra work for a well-known travel website - and all it required was clicking a few hotel adverts. But the offer was from a scammer and she was directed to a cloned website.

It follows news of another woman losing nearly £20,000 after responding to a fake TV licence email. She was also targeted over WhatsApp and tricked by a sophisticated scheme.

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‘They were pretty insistent’

Anna, recalling what happened, explained: “It was a message about some extra work for Kayak, it sounded really easy. All you had to do was click through a few ads for some hotels.

“They were pretty insistent, saying I could speak to their supervisor and they’ll talk me through how much I can earn. I did the first round and I received £700. It hooked me in like a drug.”

‘Pay this and you’ll definitely get back’

After getting ‘hooked’, the platform began asking for money from Anna in order to continue and for her funds to be released.

She said: “You had to click through 40 times, but when you got to a hotel that was over that, you went into negative and you had to pay to continue. I had a trainer called Jack, he advised me through all the steps. He’d say ‘pay this and you’ll definitely get it back’.”

Over the course of six weeks in April and May 2023, Anna sent £18,393 to the scammers, thinking she was making that and more back.

‘I didn’t believe him at first’

Anna, a Senior Office Clerk in Parliament, could see the money she was earning through the platform but was told to create a cryptocurrency account to gain access to it.

“I spoke to my son about it and he said if the only way to get money back is to pay then it must be a scam but I didn’t believe him at first,” Anna recalls.

“It was when my helper had asked for a chunk of money to get out of the ‘negative’ which I did but it went straight back into the negative again. They asked for more money and started saying it’s against the law if I didn’t pay, saying it would be fraudulent.”

After calls to the trainer and other listed numbers failed to be answered, Anna came to terms with the fact she’d been scammed. She tried warning others by putting a message in a WhatsApp group she’d been added to but was removed from the chat soon after.

Anna managed to recover some of the stolen money

“People would post holidays and meals out in the group, showing what they’d done with what they’d earned. Looking back, the posts were all faceless, it was all fake,” Anna adds.

“I also went to the police but they said I’d never get the money back. It was traumatising losing all that money.”

Anna turned to fraud recovery specialists, CEL Solicitors, for help and they recuperated £10,946 of Anna’s losses.

And now she is using her experience to warn others of making the same mistakes. “I was elated,” she explains.

“People said I’d never get anything back but I thought ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’. I tell people to be careful if you’re contacted on WhatsApp.

“If it’s legit you should be able to call someone or even visit the office. If you’re asked to give money, it’s definitely a scam. What legit company would ask you to give money to get money?”

‘Be dubious of any job offers via WhatsApp’

CEL Solicitors took Anna’s case on in 2023. The firm has recovered more than £100 million for victims of scams.

“Unfortunately, these task scams are becoming more and more prevalent,” says Paul Hampson, CEO of CEL Solicitors. "Criminals are cloning well-known websites as it means people they target feel they can trust the job they’re being offered.

“The scammers are often very persistent and convincing, often putting pressure on people to put money in to make ‘easy’ money back. Be dubious of any job offers via WhatsApp, if someone claims to be from a reputable brand, check the official websites to see if the role actually exists before engaging.

“When applying for a job, it is normal to give your email address. However, be careful of any ‘opportunity’ that asks for too much information. Especially if they ask for your banking details. And no job would ask you for money in order for you to earn money, so this is a tell-tale sign of a scam.”

Are you worried about WhatsApp scams targeting you or your loved ones? Share your thoughts by email: [email protected].