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Single mother loses £77,000 in internet scam

Amanda Jackson who was targeted in an internet scam. Picture from BBC
Amanda Jackson who was targeted in an internet scam. Picture from BBC Amanda Jackson who was targeted in an internet scam. Picture from BBC

A SINGLE mother said she feels "helpless" after internet fraudsters scammed her out of almost £77,000 as she prepared to buy a new house.

Amanda Jackson, from Co Down, received an email via her solicitor's office on October 2, advising her to transfer £76,959 into a Danske account to close the house sale.

But a few hours later she received a second email saying the previous account details were incorrect and asking her to transfer the money into a Barclays account.

Ms Jackson transferred the money to the Barclays account, which was fraudulent.

She told the BBC she was "almost hysterical" when she realised what had happened.

"I'm just helpless now," she said.

"I've been to the banks, I've been to the police, I've been to my solicitor and everyone's just telling me 'Your money is gone'. I just cannot believe that I could lose this amount of money in this way. My life has just fallen apart."

Both Danske Bank and Barclays Bank told the BBC there is no way to retrieve the money.

Danske said if "consumers respond to an email from fraudsters and send money there is no mechanism within the industry to get the money back, if it's a transaction they authorise".

The PSNI said it had referred Ms Jackson's case to Action Fraud - a group that examines cyber-crime in the UK.

The Law Society of Northern Ireland said it has recently warned solicitors about email scams.

"Such is the level of sophistication that neither the client nor solicitor is aware of the fraud until it has been successfully perpetrated," it said.