Father left feeling 'empty' after 'builder' scams him out of £17,000 inheritance

17 April 2024 , 10:07

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Geraint lost £17,000 to a building scammer (Image: Supplied)

One father was left devastated after a scammer who promised to build his "dream home" conned him out of thousands of pounds.

Geraint Davies, 39, from Flint in North Wales lost £17,000 overall which was the "deposit" for the £24,000 work he wanted done. The father-of-three wanted to build an extension on his current family home and this dream became a reality after Geraint was left money by his late father. He told The Mirror: "We wanted to do something we’d look back on and think, ‘He’s really helped us out, even though he’s not here’. It was a nice gesture that we could use for something worthwhile and it was going to change our lives.”

Geraint used an online traders marketplace to try and find a tradesman and soon found someone who said they could take on the work. The scammer paid a visit to his home and measurements were taken and fees discussed. The work was set to be completed within two months and overall it would cost £24,000, including an upfront deposit to cover the materials. Geraint said it was "scary" transferring the money but he was confident that the builder was going to transform his home into the "amazing property we've always wanted".

However, Geraint's excitement was soon dampened when a series of excuses left him growing increasingly concerned. The man was a no-show on day one, when he was due to erect scaffolding. Then the weather and being busy elsewhere were reasons why he couldn’t get started.

Geraint hoped to build an extension using the money his late father had left him (Supplied)

The father of two said the builder turned up and looked professional - so he took him for face value (Supplied)

Geraint said: "He even sent a message saying his father had passed away, we started getting an uncomfortable feeling that something wasn’t right. We’d message him and say, ‘You’ve got a lot going on, give us the money back and we’ll come back around to it another time when we’re both free to get the work done’. He said there was a problem with his bank, that his account had been frozen."

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Days would soon pass between messages, and this then turned to weeks and eventually, it became radio silence. This was when Geraint realised he had been conned which left him “feeling empty inside”. He said: “It felt crippling. I felt empty inside. I’d thrown my inheritance, and what money we had to do anything memorable with, and just gave it to somebody to line his own pockets.”

Geraint didn't know what he could do to get his money back as he had agreed to pay the fee himself. After feeling lost, he came across the legal specialists at CEL Solicitors, who offer to represent individuals who have been scammed on a "no win no fee" basis. If successful, they charge a fee of 25%. Geraint contacted the firm and after looking into his case, the experts decided his bank had not put the necessary safeguards in place to protect its customers from fraud.

To help prevent others from falling victim to similar scams, Geraint also shared his story on BBC's MorningLive show.  (Supplied)

CEL Solicitors’ CEO Jessica Hampson said: “We actually found that Mr Davies acted completely reasonably. He had a look at reviews, he spoke to them in person, it would make sense for him to give the deposit that he gave. The bank should have picked up on large amounts of money rapidly going into his account and out of his account to this new payee. It had no intervention whatsoever despite the obvious red flags of fraud. You trust the bank to protect your money and they do have a duty of care to the consumers."

After putting this case forward, Geraint was successful and was awarded the full amount back which gave him a "huge boost" after his devastating blow. He said: "I felt light again, like I had a spring in my step. We were going to be able to do nice things again and not have to worry month to month. Thinking about it now, I probably didn’t do as much homework as I should have done. But he turned up and had the company name on the side of the van, so you take people at face value."

Ms Hampson added: "It’s unfortunate that there’s a culture of victim blaming but these scams are so sophisticated that ultimately we all need to be in this together in order to fight fraud.”

If you have been scammed, you should first follow your bank’s official complaints process first - as this is free to do. Put your complaint in writing so you have a record of your incident. If your complaint isn’t sorted out in eight weeks, or you get a final response letter that you're not happy with, you can take your case to the Financial Ombudsman for free.

Ruby Flanagan