Romance scam victim has setback in fight to reclaim cash

Rachel Elwell said police had told her she was a victim of romance fraud

A woman who fell victim to a dating scam said she will fight to get her money after being told by banks she is not entitled to any refunds.

Rachel Elwell, from Brownhills, lost just under £113,000 to a scammer on a dating site in January 2021.

She believed under the terms of a voluntary code, banks should refund victims who have been tricked into moving money out of their accounts.

But her banks have told her she is not entitled to a refund.

"It feels like I've been robbed twice," she said.

The 50-year-old said she met the man through a Facebook dating app.

He claimed he lived nearby but then told her he had gone abroad for an engineering contract in Ukraine.

He began asking for money for various reasons and eventually stated he had been taken captive by loan sharks. She became aware of the con in March when she was approached by Border Force officials.

She said she had contacted her two banks, HSBC and Santander, to ask for support under the terms of the Contingent Reimbursment Model (CRM).

It was an agreement which most banks signed up to in May 2019, which offered to reimburse the victims of fraud.

But she said both had denied her claims.

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Ms Elwell said she had asked for an impartial review by the ombudsman.

"If you're robbed you don't expect the police to ask if you put up a fight," she said.

"But if you're a victim of fraud you're treated like the criminal."

Repeated warnings

In response, Santander stressed it was not pursuing her for any money itself and said: "We have the utmost sympathy for Ms Elwell and all those who fall victim to the criminals who carry out these scams."

But it added: "Unfortunately, despite repeatedly warning her of the dangers of transferring money to someone she hadn't met and directly raising our concerns that this was a scam with Ms Elwell and the police, she confirmed she wanted to proceed with the payments."

HSBC said: "Following an investigation into Ms Elwell's case we can confirm we have fulfilled our responsibilities under the CRM code.

"The customer was provided with sufficient fraud warnings and still proceeded with the payments."

The financial firm said she has "the right to take her complaint to the Financial Ombudsman for further investigation".

Ms Elwell said she did not know how she would cope without the support of her family and her GP and her creditors are on hold for the time being, while she pursues her appeal to claim money from the banks.

"I'm quite a strong person and I've struggled massively with this," she said.