Scam victim turned detective to track down £20,000 from fraudsters
A FRAUD victim has scored an astonishing victory against a conman and recovered £20,000 he thought was lost for ever.
Gideon Roseman traced the stolen money after it was sent to a crook's account — and got back every penny.
He was ripped off when fraudsters posed as a builder he hired to work on his home and sent the 39-year-old barrister a message asking him to make a lump sum payment.
The father-of-two transferred £20,400 on January 2 after exchanging a series of emails with the imposter posing as his builder.
The next day he received a distressing call from his wife Esther, 39, as he dropped his four-year-old daughter at school.
Sophisticated banking fraud leaves man without £3,000
I knew what had happened and a horrible, cold feeling came over my body
The builder had checked his emails and found messages to a number of customers demanding payment to a bank account he did not recognise.
He said he had not sent the emails and wanted to warn clients he had been hacked.
Mr Roseman told thisismoney.co.uk: “As soon as my wife started talking about the builder, I knew what had happened and a horrible, cold feeling came over my body.
“At that moment, your mind is racing, trying to work out what to do.
“I wasn't filled with optimism when I spoke to my bank, so I felt as though the only way I would get my money back is to take things into my own hands.”
So he jumped on the next train from his hometown Haywards Heath, West Sussex, to London to go to the High Court to apply for the fraudster's bank account to be frozen.
The judge agreed it appeared he had been the victim of fraud and granted the order.
Mr Roseman then contacted Santander's court orders department and it froze the account after he sent in the document by email.
He soon received another email from the fraudster asking for more money to "cover the VAT" on the work.
Mr Roseman played along and managed to obtain the sort codes and details of another two accounts — one at Barclays and another at Santander.
He then returned to the High Court to get these accounts frozen and the judge again approved his application.
The court ordered Barclays and Santander to release all contact details and bank statements for the frozen accounts and using these, Mr Roseman tracked down £5,655 in several Santander accounts connected to the fraudster and the bank agreed to return the money.
He also noticed the scammer had transferred around £5,000 to a haulage firm which repaid his money.
The bank accounts also revealed £9,150 was transferred out of the fraudster's account more than 24 hours after Mr Roseman first reported the incident to Barclays.
Barclays denied any delay but later agreed to pay the remaining £9,150.
It added £200 compensation. This left £395 outstanding, which the builder took off his bill.
Mr Roseman told thisismoney.co.uk: “Hopefully, I've shown that despite what the banks might say, it is possible to track down cash after it's disappeared and get the money back.
“My advice to scam victims is to act immediately. Call your bank, gather evidence and instruct a solicitor to get to court as quickly as you can to freeze the accounts.”