Finance guru Martin Lewis has warned people to be aware of a certain type of scam as he appeared on ITV's This Morning earlier this week.
Speaking to hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield, the Money Saving Expert joined the show on Tuesday, February 28 in advance of his live Money Show that evening.
People were able to phone in and ask Martin for advice on their money troubles, and one caller in particular's situation made Martin feel "slightly sick". The caller, named John, had lost over £12,000 in a cryptocurrency scam - prompting Martin to issue a stark warning to every viewer.
Manchester Evening News reports that John lost the money after being fooled by a fake advert. It led to Martin telling Holly and Phillip that scammers now are 'sophisticated' and 'physiologically devious', making it easier to catch people out.
"Every time I hear a story like that, it makes me feel slightly sick If I'm honest with you," Martin admitted before trying to offer some help to the gentleman on the other end of the phone. He also said he'd been in touch with his bank to try and resolve the issue.
"It is very difficult, there are push payment regulations now and scam regulations that means maybe the bank will be able to recoup the money from the scammers bank. I would certainly in the first instance speak to Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline.
"When I sued Facebook about this, I settled for a £3 million donation to set up Citizens Advice scam action and you can get 1-1 scam help from the consumer helpline. Clearly, the information given me isn't enough for me to help you and to be honest, there's not much I can do."
Including the show's hosts in his warning, Martin continued: "It is very difficult to fix after it's happened. So all those, especially This Morning fans, because Phil and Holly they use you as well, you're often in the picture with me or by yourself. We don't talk about this, this isn't about Bitcoin, none of this has anything to do with crypto-currency, this is just what people do."
He continued: "They think that we can use what people trust - our faces - and what do people think will get them rich quickly - Bitcoin - because people have heard of Bitcoin. They put the two together as a dog whistle to get people to think that these are proper get rich schemes, then they steal your money."
"They are criminals, they are thieves, there is no investment and it may sound plausible and they will always start off with 'give us £250'." Martin then added: "They are sophisticated, clever and physiologically devious. You have to protect yourself, we have to keep getting the word out."
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