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Gemma from Wolverhampton woke up to a devastating discovery after realising her bank account had been cleared. On Rip Off Britain this week, the mum of six explained how clicking a text link was just the start of her worrying situation.
Gemma is paid on the last Wednesday of every month in the early hours of the morning. However, a few months ago, she was shocked to wake up and find her payment was not there.
She said: “When I woke up and I checked [my account], every penny of my wages had gone.
“I went on to my online banking and it said I had zero pounds, zero pence.”
Gemma’s wages as well as her most recent Universal Credit payment had been stolen by criminals.
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Two weeks earlier she had clicked on a text message link which appeared to have been from Royal Mail, however, this was a scam.
The link on the text redirected her to a website where she could pay a supposed £1.50 fee for her package to be redelivered. Her details were then harvested by the scammers.
This wasn’t the biggest of Gemma’s concerns as all her bills and direct debits come out on the first of each month. However, with no money in her account, she was unable to pay for anything.
She continued: “My gas and electric, rent, council tax, my car, the water, sky, tv licence – there was nothing in my bank and I couldn’t pay for my bills.”
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She continued: “I wasn’t able to do anything through the holidays, my mum had to pay for me to get my hair done, and do the food shop, there was not anything I could do or get myself.
“I thought I was going to end up in court and somebody was going to take my house because I didn’t pay my rent.”
Due to all her missed payments, Gemma’s credit rating took a hit and her energy supplier informed her that her bills would go up as she was no longer paying by direct debit.
After her bank investigated the scam, they informed Gemma they could not help her retrieve any money. In hopes of a better outcome, she referred her case to the Financial Ombudsman service.
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Luckily her landlord and council both agreed to let her spread the missed rent and council tax payments across her remaining bills this year to relieve some of her stress.
Personal finance expert Sarah Pennells suggested how Gemma can try and get her energy bills back to normal.
She said: “I suggest you go back to the energy company and tell them you’ve been a victim of scam, which put you into financial hardship.
“Companies across a whole range of sectors have got measures in place to help people who are in financial hardship but they may not necessarily know unless you tell them.
“So use the words financial hardship as this could help get your direct debit discount reinstated which would reduce your bills where they should be.
“If they come back and say they’re not going to let you do that, I would try two things.
“Either start an official complaint or complain to the Energy Ombudsmen.
“Sometimes it’s just about being persistent, and how you ask.”
Gemma’s energy firm eventually brought her direct debits back to the original price and gave her £50 compensation.
Episodes of Rip Off Britain are available on BBC iPlayer.
