A north London businessman who arranges lucrative football business deals has revealed how he felt “devastated” and guilty after losing almost £60,000 in a sophisticated phone scam.
Gary Linke, 58, transferred the money after being tricked by scammers into believing his and his family’s identity details had been stolen and the funds would be safer in new accounts set up for them.
Some of the money belonged to her son Ollie, 17, who had just inherited £30,000 from his grandmother, while £11,000 was set aside for her stepson Noa, 24, who suffers from severe autism.
Linke told MailOnline: “When I realized I had been scammed I was completely devastated. “It was the worst feeling in the world because I felt like I had let my family down.
‘Many people are falling victim to these scams and I couldn’t believe that I had become one of them. I spent sleepless nights because I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened and the money I had lost. It also made me quite sick. It’s been a very emotional time because we’re still fighting to get our money back from the bank.’
Gary Linke, 58, transferred almost £60,000 to scammers after believing his bank details had been compromised
The scam began when Kate (pictured) received a text message she thought was from her son Ollie saying she had lost her mobile phone and needed to buy another one for £1,300.
Linke was a victim of what is known as authorized automatic payment fraud, or app scam, when people are tricked into sending a payment to someone who is not who they say they are.
Scammers can impersonate the victim’s bank or even family members. The key to this scam is that the victim has ‘authorized’ the payment and transfers the money voluntarily.
Figures show that PPP fraud during the first half of 2023 increased by 22%, representing losses of almost £240 million.
In Mr Linke’s case, the scam began in February when his wife Kate received a text message she thought was from their son Ollie saying he had lost his mobile phone and needed to buy another one for £1,300.
Kate, 56, a special needs teacher who was working at the time, was immediately concerned and responded to the message.
He was asked to provide his bank details which he did and made a payment of £1,300 thinking he was contacting Ollie and it was for his new phone.
Ironically, just a day earlier, he had told her that his cell phone was broken and that he was going to repair it.
Kate said: “It was a tragic coincidence but Ollie’s phone was broken when they called so he had no reason to doubt the message because the day before I encouraged him to buy one with the money his grandmother left him.”
Some of the money belonged to her son Ollie, 17, who had just inherited £30,000 from his grandmother, while £11,000 was set aside for her stepson Noa, 24, who suffers from severe autism. In the photo: Noa and his mother Kate.
Just minutes after making the payment, Kate received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the fraud department at First Direct, with whom she and Mr Linke bank.
He was informed that the couple’s identities had been stolen and that a number of fraudulent transactions had already been made, while a payment of £18,000 was also due to be made that same day.
She said: “I took them at face value and thought this man was my knight in shining armor because he was doing everything he could to help me.”
‘These are sneaky people and I just fell into the trap. I told them to call Gary because he usually handles all the money matters.
He then received a call from the same person telling him what he should do to “protect his money.”
The scammer advised Mr Linke to transfer the money from the couple’s First Direct account to two HSBC accounts which were being opened especially for them but which were not in their name to “keep it safe”.
He was also urged to send money belonging to his son Ollie, who had just received £30,000 from his grandmother’s inheritance.
Once the money arrived in these accounts, they promised him that they would provide him with all the details so that he could access the funds.
Mr Linke was asked to transfer this money through his Revoult account. In total, he sent £59,100 through the online money firm.
The businessman helps close commercial deals for football clubs and organizations and has worked with teams such as PSG, Leeds United and the Football Association.
He said: ‘You could say I should have known better because of my experience, but I got caught up in the moment and went into a mode where I wanted to save our money. As soon as they spot an opportunity, these scammers work on your emotions and instill a lot of fear in you.
“There was a lot going on at home, we were all very panicked, and at the end of the day it became difficult to think clearly because we all believed we were about to suffer a major financial loss.”
It was while on the phone to First Direct’s ‘fraud’ team, seconds after making the transfers, that he became suspicious.
Linke asked the name of the person he was speaking to and went on Linkedin to check if it was authentic.
He said: ‘I found this person on Linkedin, he worked for First Direct but the voice on the phone didn’t match the picture of the person I was talking to and I thought it was suspicious. So I said I would call First Direct on the other line and talk to their fraud department.
“This person then started begging me not to do this. But I did it anyway. When I contacted First Direct I told them: ‘I’m on the phone with your fraud department. Can you confirm this?
‘I was told to immediately end the call to the other person, which I did. That’s when I realized they were scammers and I felt destroyed and devastated.”
Kate cried: ‘I felt absolutely devastated and shocked when I realized the enormity of what had happened.
‘Being scammed in this way has left me feeling humiliated, ashamed, stupid and very sad. We trusted this person, I even told him about my mother who had recently passed away. “This whole thing has been a devastating experience.”
The couple have since been embroiled in a battle with banks to get their money back.
First Direct informed Mr Linke that they could not help because the funds had been sent from his Revolut account and it was his responsibility to “report payments sent to HSBC and this would be investigated as a separate matter”.
They also claimed that he authorized the payments and that they were legally bound to follow his instructions.
Revolut informed Mr Linge that they would not be able to refund him as all security measures were in place when he made the transfers, but that they are working with a “partner bank” to try to recover them.
Linge also raised concerns with HSBC about the two accounts opened by the fraudsters into which he transferred the money.
The bank informed him that shortly after arriving at them he was immediately transferred to other banks, but the accounts were “opened in accordance with our internal procedures which included review of the documents provided to support the account application.”
Mr Linge was furious: ‘You could say I have been naïve, but I don’t understand how such established banks can do so little to help victims like me. “I am also concerned about the procedures they have in place to prevent fraud.”
Anti-fraud expert Fergal Parkinson of online security firm TMT ID said: “In this case, scammers hit someone posing as a son sending messages from a new phone, and that was exactly what this person was hoping for. happen, so it was immediately believable. them.
‘So when ‘the bank’ contacted them immediately, that seemed plausible too.
‘Scammers can send thousands of these messages and they only need one family to be in the right place to believe their story and they can still clean up.
‘It is desperately sad for those involved.
‘But, as always, it’s a warning that you can’t take these things at face value.
‘Call the number and try to talk to the son. He verifies that the bank is really calling him by calling them back at a verified number that he normally uses. Never transfer money without being sure where it is going.
There is some hope for Mr Linge in his efforts to recover his money.
New regulations coming into effect in October will make it mandatory for banks and financial institutions to reimburse victims of APP scams.
First Direct has been contacted.
A Revolut spokesperson said: “We are very sorry to hear about Mr and Mrs Linke’s case, or any case where our customers are targeted by ruthless and highly sophisticated criminals.” We implement many different interventions designed to break the spell of scammers and scammers.
Linke received a number of specific scam warnings when these transactions were identified as potentially fraudulent.
Despite multiple attempts by Revolut to intervene, our warnings went unheeded and the customer provided false information to continue these transactions. We then process transactions in accordance with our legal obligations and our customers’ instructions.
We urge our clients to always take stock of our warnings and respond to any intervention honestly, as they are there to help protect their money.’
