[James Gutierrez]

This Queensland couple's simple mistake cost them $860,000 - what happened?​

By now you may have realised we here at the SDC are always emphasising how crucial it is for Aussies, especially seniors, to be vigilant regarding their finances. This story is a perfect example of why that advice is so important.

A Queensland couple in their late 30s – who wish to remain anonymous for privacy reasons – made a simple but grave mistake that cost them their life savings of $860,000.

The couple owned several investment properties but were worried Australia's property market was going to plunge this year, as experts predicted.

Consequently, they sold their properties and decided to put that money into an investment opportunity where it could sit until they needed the funds later.

A couple was scammed of their life savings by a 'fake' investment website. Credit: iStock. (Stock photo)

It was during this search for a safe place to invest their money that they came across a trading website called Coins Markets, or Coinsmarkets.io, which claimed to teach them how to buy stocks and trade cryptocurrency.

Veronica (not her real name) and her partner were told that if they invested $575,000, they could expect to see their balance grow to US$700,000 (roughly A$860k).

The company had a sophisticated website complete with a complex login portal and multiple positive ratings across different review sites – so much so that her father's financial broker even recommended Coinsmarkets.io to them!

'They (the staff) know everything about trading, they know all about the news, they had to appear good at their jobs so we'd keep investing,' claimed Veronica.

'When you ring them there's people talking, phones ringing in the background, market briefs, he'll be talking to a receptionist saying "Put this stuff on the desk".'

Because the scammers had drawn such a clear image of their 'investments', the couple was conned into believing that everything was legitimate. Credit: News.com.au.

Convinced by what appeared on paper as well as by staff members who rang Veronica up three times per week for half a year claiming everything was going well, the couple began investing over several months.

It wasn't until much later that they realised it was all one big scam designed specifically to rob them of every cent they had worked hard for all those years…

'Things were going along well until they got us to place aggressive trades that subsequently went bad really quickly,' Veronica said.

'They called to say we had a margin call and we have until the end of today to advise if we will give them another US$115,000 or our account will be closed.' Veronica said that looking back, she should have known it was a fraud.

The website in question is still active as of writing. Credit: news.com.au.

Veronica's worst concerns were verified when she consulted Nick Savvides, Chief Technology Officer APAC at cyber security company Forcepoint.

He discovered a lot of questionable behaviours, including a private domain registration that was governed by the nation of Seychelles, an East African nation, and no phone numbers or physical addresses showing up on the Coins Markets website.

And worse is that the fact that the company was not included on the Seychelles Financial Services Authority's list indicated it was an illegitimate enterprise.

Veronica has spent the better part of two months attempting to engineer the scammers into returning her money but to no avail.

Now that she has accepted that she will never see her money again, she has decided to go public with her story. 'I don't think there's any way of recovering any of it,' she told news sources.

Since then, more and more victims have come forward, each with a story of their own about how they were conned out of their life savings.

Key Takeaways

• A family has lost their $860,000 fortune after being scammed by an elaborate syndicate.
• The scammers operated a website called Coins Markets, which claimed to teach people how to buy stocks and trade cryptocurrency.
• The family became convinced that the website was legitimate and invested their money for months. However, it has since emerged that the website was a scam, and the family's money is likely lost forever.

Members, let this story be a grim reminder that years of savings can be gone in a flash, so it pays to research where you're sending your hard-earned money.

What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments!

 

[Ricci]

When will people learn? We are all told repeatedly to be vigilant, to be aware of seemingly awesome returns, to check, double check and then research all offers. I'm fast losing any sympathy for these people as they all have something in common, a desire to get rich quick with little or no effort.

 

[Anna K]

Why is everyone so fixated on getting rich? It was certainly terrible to lose their life savings but why did they want even more? Life is more than making money. I hope that unfortunate couple have enough left to live peacefully .

 

[mylittletibbies]

So many people still seem to get conned into so many different scams, the one thing they seem to have in common is greed.
How many times do people have to be told that if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!!

 

[Robmacmary]

The scammers are the greedy people not this hard working couple.
They did not want to rely on the government in their elderly years.
I am so sorry this happened to you both.

 

[Stanier123]

All investments have winners and losers. If fantastic returns are promoted this is at the expense of losers. Having worked in some poor nations I believe the pursuit of monetary wealth is futile. There folks had their family, faith, food, shelter but few luxuries. They had their smiles that put westerners to shame.

if you want others to be happy, give to others. If you want to be happy give to others.

So in 2023 look around your house. What don’t you need or use? From a frypan to a frock. Take the surplus to an Op shop and help someone less fortunate. It might put a smile of your face. Take your grandkids with the understanding that they can buy a toy, book, tee shirt. But the MUST take something to donate to make someone less fortunate smile.

 

[Judibing]

If there is any bright side to this sad story, it is that this particular couple are young enough to start again and I wish them all the luck in the world in doing so with a lot more knowledge of the dark side than they had before. But what if the people in question had been in their late 60s?

 

[Macarj]

When will people learn? We are all told repeatedly to be vigilant, to be aware of seemingly awesome returns, to check, double check and then research all offers. I'm fast losing any sympathy for these people as they all have something in common, a desire to get rich quick with little or no effort.

Just another con trading website there are hundreds of them around the world

 

[Nana Zorak]

When will people learn? We are all told repeatedly to be vigilant, to be aware of seemingly awesome returns, to check, double check and then research all offers. I'm fast losing any sympathy for these people as they all have something in common, a desire to get rich quick with little or no effort.

It is a case of GREED over-ruling common sense. Oh, I forgot Common Sense is in short supply these days!

 

[Penny4]

Not real smart

 

[poppyshero]

I fail to understand why people choose to invest and deal with a company they have probably never heard of. plenty of long term investment companies that have been around for years and are proven performers in
Australia. Better the devil you know than the one you don't. Keep your money where you know it is safe, even if the return is less than you would like.

 

[Staffordshire Whippet]

 

[Stanier123]

It is a case of GREED over-ruling common sense. Oh, I forgot Common Sense is in short supply these days!

It is a case of GREED over-ruling common sense. Oh, I forgot Common Sense is in short supply these days!

It may be desperation not greed. Unfortunately we live in a materialistic consumer society. Companies get tax breaks for advertising their wares. We are bombarded on TV and social media with advertisements.

Human nature seeks happiness and hormone endorphins provide that feeling however false. The term Sports Shopping or investment has gained traction. It refers to someone wanting something their peers don’t have. It’s an addiction like heroin or cocaine. It requires therapy.

I came from humble beginnings after WWII in
London. One of 8 kids, I’ve learnt to live with humility. So desire for materialistic stuff escapes me. In fact any advertisement is a turn off. The world would be better off if advertising costs were not tax deductible.

 

[Penny4]

I fail to understand why people choose to invest and deal with a company they have probably never heard of. plenty of long term investment companies that have been around for years and are proven performers in
Australia. Better the devil you know than the one you don't. Keep your money where you know it is safe, even if the return is less than you would like.

I guess sometimes with people, it looks greener on the other side of the fence with $

 

[Cheezil]

When will people learn? We are all told repeatedly to be vigilant, to be aware of seemingly awesome returns, to check, double check and then research all offers. I'm fast losing any sympathy for these people as they all have something in common, a desire to get rich quick with little or no effort.

Story sounds to me like they did do a lot of research but still got fooled (it wasnt exactly a get rich quick thing, but a gradual process of extracted the money from the victims.

When will people learn? We are all told repeatedly to be vigilant, to be aware of seemingly awesome returns, to check, double check and then research all offers. I'm fast losing any sympathy for these people as they all have something in common, a desire to get rich quick with little or no effort.

Why lay blame on the poor victims? Your turn may come any time as these scum bag scammers are extremely clever & use quite sophisticated means to extract money from unsuspecting hard working every day people- hell these ones weren't even old & gullible being in their 30's!
It sounds like they were vigilant & did a lot of research before "investing" in this scam- & a it was a gradual process of tricking them out of hard earned life savings, rather than a get rich quick event!

 

[Kelpie]

The scammers are the greedy people not this hard working couple.
They did not want to rely on the government in their elderly years.
I am so sorry this happened to you both.

I kind of agree with this poster but, for everyone wanting to invest such large amounts of money they should do some proper and thorough research before opening their bank account and start sending money. I have learnt a few small lessons in my years and I have also learnt that for people talking to me with a certain and specific accent I will tell them to go and get a proper job and then hang up.

 

[Cheezil]

When will people learn? We are all told repeatedly to be vigilant, to be aware of seemingly awesome returns, to check, double check and then research all offers. I'm fast losing any sympathy for these people as they all have something in common, a desire to get rich quick with little or no effort.

Why blame victims? Any of us can get caught with this sort of thing, don't need to be greedy, stupid or old even! Hope you never get to experience anything like this, but a little understanding & compassion goes a long way sometimes

 

[Kelpie]

It may be desperation not greed. Unfortunately we live in a materialistic consumer society. Companies get tax breaks for advertising their wares. We are bombarded on TV and social media with advertisements.

Human nature seeks happiness and hormone endorphins provide that feeling however false. The term Sports Shopping or investment has gained traction. It refers to someone wanting something their peers don’t have. It’s an addiction like heroin or cocaine. It requires therapy.

I came from humble beginnings after WWII in
London. One of 8 kids, I’ve learnt to live with humility. So desire for materialistic stuff escapes me. In fact any advertisement is a turn off. The world would be better off if advertising costs were not tax deductible.

I don't think that advertisments have anything to do in this case. And I am also of the beliefs that advertising expenses being tax deductible for this mob is irrelevant as it does not apply to them especially when they are residing out of Australia.

 

[gordon1940]

When will people learn? We are all told repeatedly to be vigilant, to be aware of seemingly awesome returns, to check, double check and then research all offers. I'm fast losing any sympathy for these people as they all have something in common, a desire to get rich quick with little or no effort.

Ditto.

 

[Ricci]

Why blame victims? Any of us can get caught with this sort of thing, don't need to be greedy, stupid or old even! Hope you never get to experience anything like this, but a little understanding & compassion goes a long way sometimes

I do have sympathy for the victims, or I did, it's waning a bit now. Almost every day there are stories of people being scammed out of their life savings, however much that might be.
The one thread that runs through all these stories is that the people were trying to make a quick buck. There was an element of greed.
Almost every day too, we are being warned, in print, on tv and the internet to be hyper vigilant, what these scams look like and that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. I don't know how much more the authorities can do to keep us safe, not while we have the internet that connects us to the world.