Romance that led to a job scam - Victim recovers £33,000

Our client initially met an individual online, who formed a romantic relationship with them. They told them they were an individual who works for a large company and they talked for a few days where the scammer was very complimentary of our client.

They formed a genuine-looking relationship where our client was in the belief that they were in a romantic relationship.

After the relationship was formed, the scammer asked our client if they were interested in working for a large company in a remote work from home job where they could earn up to £400 per day in the form of completing tasks.

Our client agreed and they were asked to download a platform sent by the scammer. Once on the platform they were asked to simulate purchasing items through the platform, such as a hair dryer, washing machine, or TV. They are told that the merchants that pay for the service benefit from this marketing scheme as the simulated ‘purchases’ improve the algorithms of each product.

Our client was told that they should add deposits to the platform in order to simulate ‘buying’ the item, and for each task that they complete they will earn a commission that is added to their account. The set of tasks was around 30 tasks and at the end they will receive high commission.

The commission never arrived

Once our client completed the set of tasks that increased in value over time, they expected to receive a large commission for this. Unfortunately, when they tried to withdraw, it was blocked and the scammers asked for fees in order to withdraw.

Unfortunately, this is when the client realised they had been the victim of a scam and they were left with a large loss.

They found Refundee and we provided clear guidance and support in what was a troubling situation for them.

We conducted a thorough review and created a bespoke report for the client, which we submitted to their bank to argue why they were at fault for the loss.

The bank rejected the complaint, which is fairly normal in cases like this. We then escalated this to the Financial Ombudsman Service utilising UK banking regulations to show why our client should be refunded.

After providing further evidence to the FOS, alongside a bespoke appeal, our client was refunded £33,000 from the amount they lost to a job scam.