Scammer pretending to be Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore cons OAP

A terminally ill pensioner was left feeling suicidal after a conman posed as Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and scammed her out of £140,000.

Valerie Horwood, 81, received a Facebook message in September 2022 from someone claiming to be Mr Blackmore, who she went to school with.

The pensioner from Fleet, Hampshire, was talked into buying hundreds of Apple gift cards for the user under the promise she would get it all returned plus more.

She was also convinced that all their conversations needed to be kept secret due to his celebrity status.

The scam victim has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer and no longer has any money to live out her last wishes or gift to her children.

Her daughter Debbie, 58, who has become a full-time carer for her mother said: 'She showed me her banking app and it was all gone.

'She was pulled into a false sense of security thinking she had this really good friend who was a famous person. 

'She really did not believe us when we told her that it was a scam.

'Her world just completely fell apart. She couldn't comprehend what had happened.

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'It is a hard thing to take on that you have just given all of your money away to a scammer. It is a very crafty scam.

'I have been through the worst emotional rollercoaster with it all.'

Debbie says she had noticed her mother behaving strangely in June 2023 and searched through her phone to find out why, but did not see anything suspicious.

The family was finally alerted to the issue after Valerie asked a family friend to borrow £2,000 to pay her bills, as her account was empty.

The scammer had been communicating with the pensioner through an app called Signal, which Debbie had never heard of and so did not notice when searching her phone.

She added: 'It just made me so cross because if I had known about this app then I would have seen this in June or July last year and I could have nipped this in the bud.

'I really want to raise awareness. The scammers will be working on their next scam.

'So many people just don't know about this gift card scam.

'We all went into shock. My mum is not a stupid old lady. She is very streetwise and very switched on.

'She was probably quite lonely. She was enjoying the chats that they were having.

'It is quite heartbreaking that she was sucked in. I never would have guessed that my mum would be so vulnerable like that.'

After deleting the app, Valerie began receiving threatening messages on WhatsApp from the scammer asking for more money, which overwhelmed her and she attempted to take her life.

Since then she has moved in with her daughter, who looks after her alongside carers.

Debbie has visited all the supermarkets where Valerie was purchasing the cards to warn them, and has commended supermarket Tesco for refunding the £12,500 spent in their stores.

The family are now urging other supermarkets to do the same - particularly Waitrose, Boots, and Morrisons where the majority of the money was spent.

Debbie said: 'We are fighting for justice for my mum and to recoup her money so that she can decide what she wants to do with it in her time left.

'My mum may need to go to a nursing home soon, and that's what she could be using her money for. 

'Not for some scammers to go and buy a Rolex watch or a smart car.'

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The pensioner has been hoping to visit her grandson who lives in Antigua, which the family can no longer afford.

A former colleague and friend of Debbie's who was moved by the story decided to set up a JustGiving page to try and recover some of the lost savings.

Surjit Sonik, 58, from Surrey Heath worked with Debbie for around three years as a community engagement manager and says Valerie used to attend lots of her events.

She said: 'We wanted to get the message out so that it didn't happen to anyone else in our community.

'I was absolutely horrified when I found out what had happened. Valerie is one of the nicest people you can come across.

'When I saw what happened to her it was really heartbreaking.

'I wanted to raise funds so that she can do anything she wants while she still can. Any excess will go to charity.

'The family went through so much and Valerie was really mentally affected by what happened. The money that she wanted to leave for her children or use for herself in old age is gone.

'This is happening to so many vulnerable people and there is not enough being done to stop it. When someone is 81 and has worked their whole life to have it all cruelly robbed.'

A spokesperson for Tesco said: 'We take a number of precautions to protect our customers from gift card fraud, including limiting the number and value of gift cards that can be bought in one transaction.

'We are working with industry bodies to raise awareness of gift card fraud and have partnered with UK Finance on their Take Five To Stop Fraud campaign. 

'We were the first supermarket to introduce scam warnings at our gift card displays in stores.

'We actively monitor gift card transactions and will investigate any suspicious patterns. 

'Our colleagues receive training and guidance on how to recognise that a scam may be taking place. 

'We also send regular updates to colleagues on what to look out for and how to report suspected scams.'

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A spokesperson for Waitrose said: 'We're really sorry to hear about the distress and financial loss that Mrs Horwood experienced.

'We've issued additional guidance and controls within our shops and are collaboratively working with others within the industry to see what additional safeguards can be put in place to protect vulnerable customers from gift card fraud.'

A spokesperson for Morrisons said: 'We sympathise with the victims of these scams, where vulnerable individuals are often the target.

'Retailers are educating their staff about these scams and are providing them with training to help to spot those targeted.'

A spokesperson from Boots said: 'We were deeply saddened to hear about Mrs Horwood's ordeal.

'We take fraud of any kind very seriously and we regularly communicate with our store teams so they can spot the signs of fraud and provide safeguarding to victims.

'Our store management team in Fleet raised concerns after becoming suspicious of the unusually high value of gift card purchases being made by Mrs Horwood, after which we refused further sales of gift cards to her.

'We also contacted Hampshire Police to offer our support with the investigation.'

HOW CAN YOU CHECK IF YOU ARE BEING CATFISHED?

Dating apps and online websites are plagued with fraudulent profiles, known as 'catfishes'.

'Catfishing' originated as a term for the process of luring people into false relationships, however, it has also come to encompass people giving out false information about themselves more generally. 

These profiles often use images of another person to allow users to pretend to be someone else in order to get a date, or scam money from a lonelyheart.

Fortunately, there are certain ways to check if these profiles are real people or if they are bogus accounts —

1. Google reverse image search

This is probably the most valuable tool for catching out a catfish and can be done via Google. 

To kickstart the process, people need only right-click the photos that are arousing their suspcions, copy the URL and paste it into images.google.com.

The search engine will search to see if the image has been used elsewhere.

If you find the picture associated with a different person to the one you're speaking to on your dating app, it's likely you've met a catfish! 

2. Use an app called Veracity 

It is useful for dating sites such as Tinder, Bumble and Grindr as it allows images from Dropbox or Camera roll (or similar) to be cross-referenced against any matching results.

Load the app, then select a screenshot of the suspicious dating app profile from your camera roll to launch the search.

The app will tell you if the picture belongs to somebody else. 

3. Check their Facebook 

Almost everyone who has a profile on a dating site will have a Facebook account (most dating apps require users to have one, after all!) so it is always advisable to track down your potential suitor on other forms of social media.

4. Google them

Google and other search engines have an extensive repertoire and most people will crop up in a search. 

In this day and age, it’s unusual for someone to have nothing on Google.

Have a search through for them or their relatives, things they’ve said or posted in the past. If there’s nothing, that should raise alarm bells.

5. Skype/Facetime/Video Chat 

For prospective romantic engagements, seeing the face of someone you are virtually talking to is essential. 

6.  Money

Anyone that asks for money online or via an app is likely to be a fraud. 

This is probably a scam and should provide immediate red flags.