_{A County Down man has lost his life savings and his pension in a sophisticated cryptocurrency scam}

_{A clever bitcoin fraud cost a County Down man his pension and life savings.}

_{He made a six-figure investment in a business that turned out to be fake.}

_{The man, who requests anonymity, is advising others to avoid falling for the con.}

_{"It began a little more than a year ago. I came across an advertisement with two well-known celebrities that said you could make more money than you could in a bank "explained he.}

_{"I began with $250. Although I was aware of the existence of cryptocurrencies, I had no knowledge of how they operated."}

_{The company had its own website, assigned a personal client manager, and received a good retun on the initial investment. All transactions were conducted over the phone, not online.}

_{Nothing seemed odd, and there were no alarm bells ringing in his head, he said.}

_{"I received answers to every inquiry I posed, so nothing warned me that the road ahead would be incredibly difficult.}

_{Ironically, I kept a pretty thorough spreadsheet of all the transactions and trades from the very beginning. I wasn't scared at that point. Although I was spending money, I could still get by without it."}

_{"They lured you in."}

_{He was invited to join the company's "retirement division" after a few months of continuing investment, by this time amounting to roughly £5,000.}

_{He claimed, "They were claiming fantastic figures and when I inquired about tax they said bitcoin is uncontrolled and I was thinking 'I'm not sure', but they pulled you in.}

_{"Then, my client manager left, ostensibly with Covid, and another man was appointed to take his place. Perhaps the word "gentleman" isn't appropriate in this situation.}

_{He had currently made a six-figure investment.}

_{He won't tell exactly how much, but it was the entirety of his funds plus a lump amount from his pension.}

_{The business had requested additional funds from him as investment insurance, but they were not supposed to be exchanged, and he was informed he could get them back at any time.}

_{When he entered into his account on February 15 he discovered that the extra funds had been traded without his knowledge.}

_{Only then did he realize that the entire scheme was a fraud.}

_{Fortunately, there was no borrowing, selling, or dealing with the house. "I wanted to crawl into a hole. All of it came from individual savings and pensions, he claimed.}

_{Before all of this, you would have gone to bed at night with ideas, plans, and dreams about what you wanted to do, but this has killed all of that.}

_{The man was visibly distraught and crying throughout the interview with BBC News Northern Ireland, and it was obvious that the swindle had a negative impact on him.}

_{"I simply wanted to crawl into a hole," he added, "when I found out in February that it was all gone."}

_{Because I was doing everything on my own and my wife wasn't aware of it, "home life has been wrecked."}

_{Woman's life savings of £112,000 were squandered in a romantic fraud}

_{Students are defrauded of £105,000 by fraudsters.}

_{When he complained to the corporation, they directed him to a client support group—another component of this intricate and complex deception.}

_{Additionally, he began to get in touch with everyone, including the police, the Financial Conduct Authority, and Trading Standards.}

_{Scams like this are widespread, according to Damien Doherty, chief inspector of the Northern Ireland Trading Standards Service.}

_{"Weare extremely familiar with how these frauds operate. They are quite cunning, "said he.}

_{"They have account managers, complaint managers, and escalation mechanisms, as we've heard in this case.}

"Everything about it gives you the impression that you are working with a trustworthy business.

"The monetary amounts involved

_{In this case, we're attempting to raise awareness and let people know that this is a scam that is widespread and that anyone could fall for it. It's a real emerging trend, the sums of money are enormous, and they really have the potential to ruin people's lives}.

_{The victim of this hoax had to postpone his retirement plans, but despite the obvious toll it has caused, he sincerely wants to warn others not to fall for it.}

_{"You're dreaming, waking up, and considering it. My entire life has been consumed by it, he declared.}

_{"It would be the cherry on top if we could find a resolution and receive even a portion of the money back, but it has been totally awful.}