Have you been conned?

What is the magnitude of this international fraud?

We look back to an item below and the keyboard enthusiasts who have parted with money thinking they were helping organist Dirkjan Ranzijn, not knowing it was an email fraud by a person or persons unknown.

Most people don't like to admit that they have been conned or have been deceived into parting with their money.  It usually happens to caring people who trust and have faith in others.

If anyone would like to tell us of their experiences we will NOT mention names.   By highlighting cases we may prevent anything similar happening again.

Also, if we highlight cases we may prick the conscious of those responsible.  With the help of our readers we may make the person(s) feel very guilty of what they have done.    The feeling of guilt is often hard to live with - that is a fact.  It may even be a form of punishment that will be hard to dodge - but we need the help of readers to do this.

Write to us and tell us your story

A reader who knows Dirkjan has been in touch and writes:-
"Dirk now knows, a friend of his paid £2,500 into an account the hacker made - who also made a false passport in Dirk's name to claim the money from a bank in Spain."
We cannot confirm the above report, except to say that it came from a reliable source.
Are there other cases?   The more we know, the better.

OUR COMMENT   We hope the Spanish authorities are not taking this lightly.  This fraud happened in THEIR country to a Dutch citizen with victims in the UK.   It is an International crime and many are involved.  It could very well be the tip of an iceberg.   It is essential that all victims tell the authorities of their case.   If you tell us, your name will not be published - only the amount of the fraud so that the magnitude is known.