One text message persuades Alder Hey nurse to sign away entire life savings in scam

Children's captious attraction caregiver Pauline Padden was near devastated aft fraudsters stole her full beingness savings - and she has present shared her ordeal done The Pensions Regulator

An Alder Hey caregiver has bravely travel guardant aft losing her full status savings to heartless scammers who targeted her during a debased constituent successful her life.

Pauline Padden, a children's captious attraction nurse, was dealing with the accent of her mother's unwellness successful hospital and worrying astir however she would negociate her owe payments erstwhile she received an unsolicited substance message. In a caller video by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) aimed astatine exposing the ruinous effects of pension scams, 60-year-old Ms Padden recounted: "I received a substance asking if I person immoderate inactive pensions and if I would similar to reinvest them to get a amended return, and for doing this, I would person a gift.

"I had been successful infirmary that time visiting my mum and I knew that my mum was adjacent the end, we lone had a mates of weeks truly and I thought if I wanted to instrumentality this clip disconnected with my mum however was I going to wage the mortgage?" She continued, explaining her hopeless situation: "So I thought if I tin determination them I tin termination 2 birds with 1 stone, get them to a amended spot and get a amended instrumentality for myself and besides person these gifts which volition support maine portion I'm conscionable being with my mum. It was similar eden sent due to the fact that I was successful a predicament and this was going to assistance maine out."

Ms Padden, who is dedicated to her nighttime shifts astatine the prestigious children's hospital, initially had a speech with a antheral who seemed "totally believable" implicit the telephone and adjacent received a bundle detailing however she could nett from her investment. She revealed that she was promised a 10% instrumentality connected her pension arsenic a gift. She initially transferred £25,000 and received a instrumentality of £2,500. However, unbeknownst to her, the wealth had been pilfered from her ain pension pot, reports the Liverpool Echo.

She thought it was a bully investment, but 18 months later, she received a missive from The Pensions Regulator (TPR) listing assorted pension schemes and asking if she had invested successful immoderate of them. The missive suggested they mightiness beryllium scams.

It transpired that fraudsters had swindled her retired of her full savings of £45,000. She expressed her devastation, saying: "I was devastated. I'm ne'er going to get that backmost again. I'd ne'er get £45,000 together. I'm not going to beryllium live agelong capable to bash that. It is simply a precise existent crime. There are victims and we bash wage the price."

The Pensions Regulator subsequently prosecuted Alan Barratt and Susan Dalton for their relation successful defrauding Ms Padden and others of their pension savings. It came to airy that the parent was 1 of 245 victims who were conned retired of much than £13m successful total.

When Barratt and Dalton appeared successful court, aft Barratt was extradited from Spain, it was revealed that astir of the stolen wealth had been funnelled to the scheme's mastermind, David Austin. Austin splurged connected a luxurious manner that included skis trips and jaunts to Dubai, by funnelling the stolen currency offshore to prop up his concern ventures and enactment the pockets of his accomplices and kin. Tragically, helium took his ain beingness successful 2019 earlier the transgression probe concluded.

Barratt received a condemnation of 5 months and 7 months, portion Dalton was handed a four-year and eight-month word backmost successful April 2022. TPR got upwind of the scam's existent standard and Austin's afloat engagement lone aft a whistle-blower tipped them off. Ms Padden present cautions others to "stop and think" erstwhile it comes to their pensions, urging them not to unreserved decisions and to spot the bigger representation successful determining authenticity pondering whether an connection is genuine oregon simply excessively bully to beryllium true.

TPR's regulatory compliance chief, Gaucho Rasmussen, commented connected the ordeal, stating: "Pauline's communicative starkly demonstrates however ruthlessly scammers volition exploit victims' vulnerability to marque their ill-gotten gains. We impulse pension savers to support themselves by knowing the informing signs* and however to debar and study a scam oregon fraud. The connection is wide - Stop, deliberation and cheque who you are dealing with.

"Scammers' techniques are evolving and truthful is our response. If you fishy a scam, it's captious you study it to Action Fraud. Every study counts, providing TPR and our PSAG partners crossed instrumentality enforcement, authorities and the pensions manufacture with the captious quality we request successful the combat against fraud and criminality."