I was scammed after selling my parents’ house and lost all my life savings – here’s how I got scammed

One father said he fell for an elaborate investment scam after selling the family home and lost all his life savings.

Borja Ares, 37, feels he has ‘betrayed his wife and children’ after being tricked into handing over £160,000 to a pro con man.

of health workers living in new zealandI have been haunted by a sense of “imminent doom” ever since I was deceived by a scammer.

He and his wife, Alfiya Lakshmidhar, 35, sold the house on May 1, explaining that they wanted to keep the cash until they found their dream. property.

After repaying mortgage And that sum, combined with their savings, left them with £160,000 to play with.

Borja then started looking up the following on the web. investment An opportunity to increase his savings without taking too many risks.

“The idea was to keep it safe,” he said. new zealand herald.

The father soon found a site comparing interest rates on fixed deposits and entered the details to assess potential rewards.

But he unwittingly set the gears in motion for the scammers to pounce. Soon after, I was contacted by two people who seemed to be investors.

Borja said he was approached by two men who identified themselves as Simon David and James Higgins.

the two competed with each other to persuade the other Spanish-Natural healthcare professionals seize opportunities in investment portfolios.

Simon convinces Borja that he is loyal and trustworthy, overriding his father’s vigilance and leading the race.

he said: “He had me on goal from the first moment. He seemed like a really educated, soft-spoken Englishman.

“He seemed really sincere, and I think that’s what put me off guard. Something emotional seemed to activate in me. There was trust.

“I don’t know how he manipulated me into trusting him like this.”

Simon claimed to be an investment broker for Auckland-based Citibank and sent Borja a prospectus detailing a wide range of investment options.

He persuaded the father of two to sign up for the option after claiming that his option was triple-A rated, low-risk and backed by a big-name bank.

Borja settled with a Yorkshire Architectural Institute bond that promised a generous interest rate of 13.5%, but he still didn’t see the red flags.

“It was perfect. It totally made sense. I felt very safe with my money,” he said.

He also searched Simon David online and found legitimate information. LinkedIn His profile, which said he was vice president of corporate banking at Citibank, has since been removed.

Borja, who is awaiting New Zealand citizenship, said he would do further due diligence to ensure it was legal.

He had intended to call Citibank directly to confirm the investment, but work and family circumstances prevented him from doing so.

“And I really trusted him,” the father said. “I don’t think I’m particularly gullible. Man. I try to be careful. But they caught me and tricked me. “

Alfiyah left the investment in her husband’s hands, but David persuaded her husband to raise the original offer by £50,000.

The scammer also advised on how to transfer the funds in two batches as Bank Borja does not allow the entire £160,000 to be transferred in one day.

But the father had unknowingly lost all his life savings, and the scammers took the process just 12 days after first contact.

It wasn’t until over a week after sending the email that Borja realized he had been deceived. money When you’re discussing your investments over a family dinner.

When referring to the attractive 13.5 percent interest rate, he said: horror It turned out to be too good to be true.

The father then searched online for “Citibank scam” and found many other victims who had been scammed in the same manner.

“I was delusional about getting my money back. I was like, ‘No, Simon wouldn’t do that to me,'” he said.

Citibank, own bank, Bank of New Zealand Ombudsman, and policeBorja then realized that his money was long gone.

It was a well-known scam, and bank BNZ should have reported it when they said they were transferring funds to their Citibank account.

A BNZ spokesperson told the NZ Herald: “He said the transfer was for an investment in Citibank, but he said he would transfer the funds to his account so our bankers could process the transaction. I did,” he said.

Despite the battered finances and the devastation of being scammed, Borja said his wife was his confidant.

“We are safe, our children are safe. That is our comfort,” he said.

BNZ is now working to see if any of the family’s money can be recovered.

Citibank warned that scammers are impersonating and not offering financial products or services. retail You can also make requests to your clients or send them unsolicited investment offers.