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A man had £ 18,000 stolen by criminals who allegedly spiked his drink before using financial apps on his smartphone to take the money.
Ben Gregory, 26, said he discovered the money was missing after spending an evening with friends in Clapham, south London, this summer.
He woke up the next day “dizzy, dazed” and found that someone had emptied his savings account and set up several overdrafts.
“I felt terrible, absolutely terrible” he told the bbc.
“Over the next few days, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, I couldn’t sleep, I had trouble eating. Because at the end of the day, I felt worried and vulnerable.
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Gregory said he got a phone call from his brother asking if everything was okay after they put up an overdraft on their joint account.
He later found out that fraudsters had created two bank overdrafts of £ 2,500 and also took all of his savings after transferring the money to his checking account.
They stole just over £ 18,000 in total from his American Express, Monzo, HSBC and Revolut accounts.
American Express and Monzo returned Gregory’s money within days.
But his request for reimbursement was initially denied by HSBC and Revolut before backing off and handing the money back to him.
HSBC told the BBC: “We have carefully reviewed this matter and, in light of new information, we will fully reimburse Mr. Gregory.
“Although we have an experienced team looking for signs of fraud, as this case unfortunately highlights, crooks are unscrupulous criminals who use a range of techniques to exploit their victims.
“We encourage people to be on guard.”
Revolut added: “This was an unusual case where payments were authorized by the customer but, as it is now clear, without their consent.
“We very much regret the distress and inconvenience suffered by Mr. Gregory and have reimbursed his losses.”
The incident follows reports that women have been drugged with needle injections during night outings in recent months.
There were 274 cases of needle stick injuries during the period September to November 5 of this year.
Meanwhile, drink spikes have long been a problem, with 2,600 cases recorded in the UK between 2015 and 2019.
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Metropolitan Police Inspector Dave Laurie has advised people to buy their own drinks, watch them serve and not accept any from strangers.
He added that if your drink doesn’t taste good, you should throw it out.
Watch: Student fears she was injected doping at a party
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