Derbyshire chef loses life savings after fake girlfriend crypto currency scam

Alexandr Gutu, 33, had been working two full-time jobs, in a restaurant and in a hotel, to save up money for a house in Derbyshire when one of his jobs seriously cut his hours in January.

It meant he was only working ten hours, instead of forty, in the hotel and Alexandr’s second job started to cut hours too, as fewer clients were visiting the restaurant due to the cost of living crisis.

His girlfriend at the time, whom Alexandr met through a dating app, then used his worries against him.

Alexandr, originally from Moldova, said: “I was applying through Indeed to find another job but not many places were recruiting. I told my girlfriend about it and she said her uncle works in trade with big European companies and could give me some advice on trading and shares.

"I had a chat with him and he said I could invest in cryptocurrency. He said I can start with a small amount and if it goes well I can just put a bit more and if not I can take the money out.”

An account was set up in Alexandr's name and he transferred a small amount of money into the account through cryptocurrency. Everything was going alright and he transferred more funds but when he requested some of it back, he found out he is not allowed to do that.

He said: “When I requested the money back, everyone just disappeared – the girl, her uncle and the uncle’s helper. I haven’t heard from them ever again.”

Alexandr, who now is working as a kitchen assistant in New Bath Hotel and Spa and as a pizza Chef in Fishpond, Matlock Bath, has collected information, pictures and screenshots and passed them to the action fraud police department and said officers have been ‘helpful’ – but could not restore his funds yet.

Alexandr said: “One fraud theft officer already started to make some steps to help me and got me in contact with a solicitor. The solicitor sent me to a bank but the bank sent me to the ombudsman. Police say they are investigating but I don’t know what exactly is happening now.

"I don't know if and when I will get the funds back from the scammers and it would take a long time to earn this money back – probably two years at two full time jobs with no days off and holidays.

"I’ve never asked for any help from anyone, but now I need help. I started fundraising and I hope that my situation can warn other people against scams like this.

"I think it is always worth asking for help but I understand that now the situation is very difficult for everyone and bills, mortgages and food are more expensive. I want to say thank you to anyone who will donate.

"And if I manage to get the money back from the scammers and I will have any extra funds from the fundraiser – I will donate them to a different victim of a similar scam.”