spyguy Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-your-money-50249529 Conned out of my lifetime earnings, then 'failed' by police "I felt devastated, absolutely devastated and so guilty. My life collapsed really". Cynthia Tuck remembers the moment she realised she had been conned out of her lifetime earnings, and those of her husband, George. She'd become one of dozens of victims of a sophisticated, organised scam offering hugely over-valued houses as "investments". But realising she'd been conned wasn't the end of Cynthia's misery. A three-year fight for justice - involving five different police forces and multiple investigations - would ultimately lead nowhere. Cynthia and her family have been feeling nothing but anger, resentment and frustration towards the justice system because the people who were involved in the scam got off scot-free. No charges. No trial. No justice. The con Young, often vulnerable, people were targeted, sometimes over the course of many years. Victims were persuaded, through a variety of different tactics, to buy poor quality houses at hugely inflated prices. In Cynthia's case, she was cold-called by a man called Colin Moore and persuaded to pay around £5,000 for a deposit in 2013 as an "investment". Official-looking websites, glossy brochures, lunch meetings and, crucially, seemingly genuine certificates promising good returns all helped legitimise the con. Then, over the course of three years, Colin Moore, while working for two different companies, ruthlessly exploited Cynthia's vulnerabilities and persuaded her into handing over nearly £400,000 - every penny she and her husband wil learn in a lifetime of work - for a 2 bedroom flat in Surrey. The houses her family eventually managed to track down (they suspect some of them never even existed) were sold for less than 10% of the amount Cynthia paid for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
“Nasty Piece of work” Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 A victim of her greed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gush Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 "The Con" FFS, Its very close to HTB which HMG is orchestrating and that is branded as an initiative to help the housing market, but here its a Con. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayward Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 1 hour ago, Gush said: "The Con" FFS, Its very close to HTB which HMG is orchestrating and that is branded as an initiative to help the housing market, but here its a Con. A lack of integrity at the top is 'trickling down' to a lack of integrity in many areas of life... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 For some their income or future income is dependent on who wins and runs the country and it is not just MPs......there is a lot riding on this election......many people's futures both good and bad......have to wait and see.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msi Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 3 hours ago, Wayward said: A lack of integrity at the top is 'trickling down' to a lack of integrity in many areas of life... Yes. For all the wailing about 'cash in hand' and 'benefit cheats', the UK is rapidly turning into spiv central. The work ethic is eroded away. Why work and build up skills when you can flip houses - tax free innit!? Why try and go for a promotion, when you can BTL a house and claim tax relief? (avoiding S24 by incorporating innit?) Why look for long term employment when you can be a contractor and get a 'loan' (tax free innit)? The powers that be make a big deal of closing one loop hole, while another 2 open up. What we need is wholesale publicly seen punishment to discourage this attitude. Personally I am already seeing myself becoming more bitter - even little things like not letting anyone in a Range Rover or BMW come out of a junction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 It's shocking that they had the discipline to save that money up and then the lack of diligence to investigate what it was being invested in. I don't know what to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluestone59 Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 6 hours ago, Wayward said: A lack of integrity at the top is 'trickling down' to a lack of integrity in many areas of life... Monkey see, monkey do. Government and individual politicians have been caught stealing in one sense or another so routinely it's not one bit surprising that crooks act so callously. This stuff doesn't shock me anymore either, it's just normal now. I've even started to wonder why I don't do it myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longgone Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 I thought this was the HTB Scheme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regprentice Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Not a scam for houses but a scam for overvalued diamonds. Just listened to this on Radio 4. The interesting part was that this scam alone made £2Mn, and one solicitor (Iirc) stated that less than 1% of reported frauds are prosecuted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 I suspect it's nothing new or unusual. Change the system and your simply change the criminals - https://www.ft.com/content/31fd750e-d06d-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Ghostly said: I didn't know the police had a time machine to go back and stop you being a mong. People should be compensated for being stupid, said Gordon Brown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted November 18, 2019 Author Share Posted November 18, 2019 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b5lb Talk about not being able to con an honest man - or woman. Idiot buying n selling in unregulated markets - carbon credits, diamonds. What on earth did she or her family think she was doing FFS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted November 18, 2019 Author Share Posted November 18, 2019 https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/investing/article-7678201/Why-dealing-diamonds-lost-sparkle.html Shes not been 'failed by the police' Shes been failed by her stupidity n greed. I can sell a diamond, a pencil or whatever to anyone, and tell you its a valuable item that will be worth $$$$ in the future. No difrent from a BTL in Rotherham or a hotel room in Wales. There is no regulation preventing me from doing this. THESE ARE UNREGULATED INVESTMENTS FFS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bsdb3 Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 On 12/11/2019 at 21:51, regprentice said: Not a scam for houses but a scam for overvalued diamonds. Just listened to this on Radio 4. The interesting part was that this scam alone made £2Mn, and one solicitor (Iirc) stated that less than 1% of reported frauds are prosecuted. Also from BBC radio the missing Cryptoqueen podcast is worth a listen. The writer describes it as the “perfect scam”: a multi-billion dollar con that combined a bogus currency with a cult–like recruitment programme that fed into a pyramid scheme. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07nkd84/episodes/downloads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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