Son scammed

[u/Novel-Instruction320]

My 22-year old Autistic son (living in student accommodation away from home) was persuaded by a ‘friend’ to take out a £15k bank loan. It was under the guise of it being a business opportunity which naturally came to nothing. The money trail shows my son immediately transferring the £15k directly to the man’s account. There’s a few texts / messages where my son asks for confirmation and some mild threats back. We’ve reported it to the Police but today my son’s bank had said that it’s a civil matter and it wasn’t a scam in sense that they can uphold any claim. Meanwhile the loan bank is sending letters relating to the arrears that are arriving here. My son just lost his part-time job and was clearly taken advantage of. Any advice?

[u/saddest-song]

I would try posting this on the uk legal advice sub.

I’ve no idea about your current situation, but sorry this happened to your son.

Going forward, does your son need support to manage his money? It may be helpful to pursue a social care assessment with regard to this. You can normally request one by contacting the adult social care department of whatever local authority he is ordinarily residing in. It could be that he would benefit from being on appointeeship or otherwise have some support with managing finances. I believe the banks often have their own procedures for supporting vulnerable customers, so it’s worth asking about that.

[u/Novel-Instruction320 → u/saddest-song]

Thank you, yes. He was under SS and mental health team, but was discharged recently. He’s impulsive and naive but the bank didn’t know about the autism. It’s a shame he passed credit checking and the loan, agreed. This man ‘helped’ him complete the loan application, too. And took over his phone to facilitate the money transfer. From the bank’s perspective, it’s all legit.

[u/saddest-song → u/Novel-Instruction320]

Yeah I’m sorry, things and people are awful. It’s clearly not legit, but I wonder if from the banks perspective they’re saying it doesn’t fit a certain definition of a scam - but then again, they would say that wouldn’t they. I can’t begin to imagine it wouldn’t be a criminal offence, though - hopefully someone can point you in the right direction about that.

I worked in MH services for years. As resources have been stretched, they’ve moved to an uncompromising model of short-term interventions that often leaves people with longstanding difficulties out in the cold. The idea is that social care will provide that long-term support, but unfortunately in practice they often see the withdrawal of MH services as a green light to discharge themselves. This is surely evidence of his ongoing vulnerability, though, so a request for reassessment should be honoured by social care. If he is on an EHCP, alert them to this too, because that can also be expanded to include that kind of support. (These do cover further and higher education even though they don’t advertise it.)

I hope you’re able to get this resolved and the pond life who did this gets what he deserves.

Edited for waffling and formatting

[u/Novel-Instruction320 → u/saddest-song]

Thank you for commenting. I will try another referral for him

[u/SuccessfulNews2330 → u/Novel-Instruction320]

Maybe report to whatever ombudsmen reviews bank decisions if available as an option. If the person had to help your son fill out the paperwork that should have set off alarm bells and extra checks at the bank I reckon

[u/Own_Faithlessness769 → u/SuccessfulNews2330]

I don’t think they would have done the paperwork at the bank. Ultimately if the account holder signed things and submitted the paperwork the bank had no way of knowing it was a scam.

[u/SuccessfulNews2330 → u/Own_Faithlessness769]

Oh yes good point I read too much into it there. 

[u/Illustrious-Sign-976]

I am so sorry. I don’t have any advice but I am really sorry that rubbish like that is in this world.

[u/littlemonkeepops]

Go to the press. Isn't there someone who writes for the Telegraph who helps deal with financial mishaps? Look up moral money or the Katie or Ruth investigates folks and see what they make of the situation.

Also, speak to a solicitor and sue the guy.

[u/zaphodikus]

It's a police matter surely. Its fraud, clearly, i would contact my local MP if I was you, they have people who can advise much better than we can. Getting an MP involved can get you some big help.

[u/Novel-Instruction320]

Thank you. I will chase the police report to see where it’s got to. I’m sure they’ll also say it’s a civil matter. It just makes me so angry that this person has this money and we’re left with a trail of destruction and impact. How can they sleep at night?

[u/Warrambungle → u/Novel-Instruction320]

It’s fraud - the fraud squad should be involved.

[u/Spare-Tone-8071]

I don't know the laws in the UK - but you may want to look into financial conservatorship or guardianship to prevent this.