Poppy Bilderbeck
A teacher has opened up about the 'shock' of finding out his identity had been stolen and sold on the dark web.
In August 2021, Matthew Shaw went on holiday to Cornwall, UK, with his wife when he received a worrying notification on his phone.
Matthew and his wife had just woken up when his phone notified him of a transaction.
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The 27-year-old told the PA news agency: "We had woken up, we had breakfast, and we were on our way to go and do jet skiing - something we’ve always wanted to do. Then, I parked up and I had a notification at the top of my phone saying, ‘£3,500 [$4,500] has been paid to a hotel’.
"I thought, ‘Oh my God, what is this?’, and I rang First Direct straight away and said, ‘This is not me’.
"They were going through their security questions, but I was just panicking and thinking, ‘All my money’s gone - that was our savings for a house and it’s all gone’."
Matthew's balance had gone from £3,500 to just £20 ($26).
First Direct explained to Matthew his email had been 'hacked' and 'a person in Romania had obtained [his] ID, set up a bank account using [his] ID, and then basically paid for a hotel with all the drinks and everything using [his] credentials, which then came out of [his] bank account'.
He continued: "They said the process was that someone had hacked into my email, got my ID and everything, and then that was published to the dark web… And, apparently, you could pay $10 to access someone’s information."
Matthew and his partner had the rest of their holiday planned and had booked tickets to visit a crystal maze and seal sanctuary, but as a result of the scam had to leave a week early.
"I think we were both in shock - our holiday, that we go on once a year, has been ruined by someone who is probably doing this 10, 11 times a day, and you just think, ‘Why have they chosen us?’
"I was just thinking, ‘What could I have done better?’ You start to blame yourself."
Matthew warned he has different passwords for each account he has and changes his email address regularly, yet still ended up a target of identity theft.
Thankfully, First Direct were able to refund the money and Matthew praised the company for being 'brilliant' at helping him.
He's since been placed on a 12-month fraud prevention program and subsequently had to answer 'a million security questions' but is 'grateful' for the added security, adding two-factor authentication to his accounts to.
Although, even now, he admitted he still gets 'about six or seven notifications a day' saying people are trying to get into his account.
Matthew resolved he hopes his story can 'educate at least one person,' stating: "You just don’t think it’s going to happen to you until it happens."
A spokesperson for First Direct said: "Protecting our customers from fraud and scams is a key priority for us and we have a range of features in place to spot unusual activity on an account and protect our customers’ money.
"In this case, we’re really pleased we were able to intervene when Mr Shaw’s details were compromised and refund the money promptly.
"It is also standard practice for us to offer additional support to those customers who are victims of fraud, to give them extra assurances when making further payments so they feel confident and supported when managing their account."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, you can contact Victim Support on 08 08 16 89 111, start a live chat, or visit the website, all of which are available 24 hours seven days a week.