Crypto-Related Fraud and Mortgage Arrears

Money Box

BBC

Business

4.2 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2024

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The number of people falling victim to fraud involving cryptocurrency has more than doubled between 2020 and 2023 according to Action Fraud. The value of such fraud has also increased. Our reporter Dan Whitworth has met one such victim, an 86 year old in South Wales who lost over £70,000. Following a Money Box investigation she's now had her lost life savings refunded. We've been reporting on difficulties people are having moving from working tax credits to Universal Credit. We hear from a listener who runs an annual skinny dipping event to raise money for charity, she's been told by her work coach that all her fundraising will be considered personal income for the purposes of Universal Credit. In a week that some lenders increase interest rates, figures from the Bank of England show an increase in arrears on mortgage accounts. We hear how people are coping with their mortgage costs and what you can do if you're struggling to pay them.

Presenter: Paul Lewis Reporter: Dan Whitworth Researchers: Sandra Hardial and Jo Krasner Editor: Beatrice Pickup

(First broadcast Saturday 16th March 2024)

Transcript

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0:00.0	On a winter's night in 1974, a crime took place that would obsess the nation.
0:07.0	It was an extraordinary news story.
0:09.0	The story of an aristocrat, Lord Lucan, who's said to have killed the family Nanny,
0:14.0	mistaking her for his wife, then somehow just disappeared.
0:18.0	One of the great mysteries in English criminal history. We're still looking for
0:21.7	Lucan. It's honestly one of the most powerful stories of my lifetime. I'm Alex Fontunzelman. This is
0:27.8	the Lucan Obsession. Listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. Hello, welcome to this Moneybox podcast.
0:39.3	The listener who organised a mass North Sea skinny dip to raise money for charity,
0:44.1	but the Department for Work and Pension said she'd be stripped of her benefits
0:48.1	because the money she gave to charity counted as her income.
0:51.8	And four major lenders put up mortgage rates. In the same week,
0:55.7	the Bank of England says mortgage arrears have risen to a seven-year high. But first,
1:01.1	the number of victims of fraud, where cryptocurrency has been used to steal their money,
1:06.2	has more than doubled in just four years. Figures, seen exclusively by Moneybox, show the amount of money
1:12.0	being stolen has also sharply increased. Dan Whitworth's here. Dan, for puzzle listeners, though,
1:16.7	first, what is cryptocurrency? Okay, Paul, so cryptocurrency or crypto for short, is a digital currency,
1:23.3	so it only exists online. So unlike traditional currencies, like the pound or the dollar, for example,
1:28.6	they're not backed by central banks.
1:31.0	Now, this makes it popular for people who think that brings financial freedom,
1:34.4	but it also makes it very volatile and extremely difficult to recover,
1:38.6	if not impossible, if it's stolen.
1:40.9	Now, one of the most well-known and popular cryptocurrencies is Bitcoin.
	...

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