Scammed by fake forex broker online. Any help available?

M5958

Through my own naivety, stupidity and lack of due diligence I have been scammed of over £17,000 by an online fake (as I now know) online broker. 
Is there any way at all of being able to recover at least some of that money?
I'm positive the bank that I sent my funds from will not reimburse me anything as when I did my first transaction to the scammers I was called by the bank to warn me of potential scammers(!), plus all transactions were made by wire and not by card so no chance of any chargebacks.
I've searched for companies who say they can recover funds in cases like mine, buy I'm very wary as they themselves can be scammers. I'm sure not all of them are, though.
Are there, perhaps, any lawyers who deal with a situation like mine who would be willing to take on my case?
Has anything like what has happened to me been the experience of anyone here? Were you able to recover any of your funds, and how? 
Any advice and information would be greatly appreciated. 

Chris_English

Sorry to hear this. As you say, the companies claiming to be able to get your money back are almost certain to be scans, and you can expect to be contacted by one or more, so watch our.

Tell your bank what happened, ask them to try to recall the funds, and also ask them whether you are covered under the fraud protection cover which can apply in situations such as this.

Where is the company based, and how did you come across them?

M5958

Hi Chris. Thanks for your quick response.

I'll follow your advice to contact my bank and see what they've got to say. I'm quite sure they'll find a way not to reimburse me, but nothing ventured nothing gained.

Having recently done the proper due diligence that I stupidly didn't do beforehand, I've come across many red flags that would have stopped me going ahead if I'd had my head screwed on properly. 

The “company“ are called Swiss Union. They have a website <swiss-union.net> I'm not sure where they are actually carrying out their scamming. They lie by pretending they are in Zurich, Switzerland (fake or comprised address), fake phone numbers, and email addresses that I've never received replies from. I believe they are registered in St.Vincent and the Grenadines. They used SwissBorg (a genuine company) as a conduit for the money I sent. I believe that was exchanged into cryptocurrency. I had a 'broker' by the name of Rhea Kallis who was my account manager. This was done using the app AnyDesk. Messages were exchanged using the app Signal. Talking was done by being called on my mobile phone. I was induced by more lies (as I now know) to send even more money to get my funds released. No money has appeared in my account. The 'broker', Rhea Kallis, ignores all my Signal messages. Basically, they've gone, and so has all my money (plus most of my mother's, which naively I thought I'd be able to return in due course).

There are so many red flags above that I just can't believe how naive and stupid I was. 

A very good friend of mine has been diagnosed with leukemia. She lives in a country where the cost of the treatment needed is huge, and she has nothing like the money required, plus she has no contact with her family. I was, and still am, desperate to help her, and this led me to being blinded by the lies and hope given by the scammers. 

I came across them via a Facebook ad. Yes, I know, another red flag, and more stupidity on my part!

soolin

I’m continually pestered by this company and their calls as you say they do suggest they are properly registered but if you ask them for details and are persistent they hang up very quickly. I did once get to speak to a supervisor (almost certainly just another rep in the scam call centre)  who gave me a false UK registration number and suggested various legitimate companies they were associated with, but actually admitted they were making it up and were independent. 

I think you are going to struggle with your bank as they followed the correct procedure for potentially scammy transfers and seem to have specifically asked you if you still wanted to go ahead, at that point I'm sorry to say that there should have been some huge red flags for you. 

I honestly don’t know where you can start to try and recover any money, but as you have already said, please don’t be tempted to fall for anyone suggesting they can recover this for you for a fee, you may well be on a scammers list now as vulnerable and start to get a lot of calls. Talk to your bank again, asks to speak to the fraud department, but ultimately I think they are going to be unlikely to help as you ignored their warning. It is worth a try though.

good luck 

M5958

Hi doolin. Thanks for responding.

Yes, definite scammers. I feel so disappointed and angry with myself for being taken in by these scumballs. I thought I was internet savvy enough to be able to avoid online scammers - obviously I wasn't.

And you're right about my phone number probably being on a scammers list as I've already had scammers call me up about ”investments”. My phone SIM is PAYG, so at least I'm able to get rid of both SIM and number and get new ones. 

And, yeah, the bank. Like you say, I'm aware that I'm likely to have no joy there as they did follow correct procedures and called me to ask if I was sure I wanted to go ahead with my initial transfer of funds. Hindsight is a great thing, but why oh why did I not say to stop the transfer. It's too late now though, and I deeply regret my stupidity in saying yes. However, I will still talk to their fraud department, even though I'm probably going to get rebuffed for, as you say, ignoring their warning.

Thanks again for your response.

M5958

You are, of course, soolin, not ”doolin”... Sorry about that!