'I was conned out of my inheritance - by a friend'

Two scam victims have spoken of their shame and humiliation after a convicted fraudster convinced them to part with a combined total of £58,000.

Kim Older, 53, from Bexhill, East Sussex, claimed she needed financial assistance to access an inheritance fund and promised victims they would benefit from loaning her money.

In 2019, Glyn Busby - also from Bexhill - handed Older a total of about £35,000, which included his inheritance and money he had borrowed on credit cards.

“It all seemed so real – she got me hook, line and sinker,” he said.

He initially paid Older £4,000 after a close family member – who was friends with her - convinced him to loan the money.

“Literally, day after day after day, the amount rose and I stupidly gave more and more,” he said.

In October, Older was convicted of two counts of fraud by false representation and given a suspended prison sentence.

Another person who was scammed by Older in 2019 was Sarah - not her real name.

She met Older at the SEN school they both worked at and she said they “grew very close, very quickly”.

Sarah was in a period of bereavement for her father and said she was vulnerable at the time.

When Older claimed she could not afford to pay her bills, Sarah wanted to help her.

Older claimed she was due to inherit millions of pounds but needed “a certain pot of money to access that money”.

Over the course of about a year, she tricked Sarah into handing over £23,000 – money her father had given her so she and her husband could “get married and have a house together”.

Sarah said Older emotionally blackmailed her and at one point, threatened to take her own life if Sarah did not give her money.

“I was in the car and I had to pull over because I was going to throw up.

"I had been ground down so much by this person that I thought I could trust,” she said.

Meanwhile, after handing over about £20,000, Glyn told Older he would not be paying her anything more.

She told him that would mean he would “lose every penny" he had given her.

After borrowing from banks and on credit cards, which he is still paying back, he believes the scam will cost him about £50,000 in total.

Asked why he did not stop sending money, Glyn said he felt he “was in so deep”.

Older involved other people in the elaborate scam, who phoned Glyn posing as bank managers and an insurance company.

Eventually, Glyn said he went to Older’s house to challenge her, but a man came out and started pushing him off the driveway.

At that point, he went to the police.

As result of falling victim to the scam, Glyn lost out on a house that he and his partner were in the process of buying and his relationship broke down.

“It was the last thing I'd think of at night and the first thing I’d think of in the morning and it drove me absolutely nuts,” he said.

Glyn said the stress caused him to pull the hair out of his head.

"I don't believe we'll ever get over it completely," he added.

Meanwhile, Sarah said Older “knocked me down until I had nothing left”.

“My hair was falling out. My depression had got really bad. I wasn't sleeping.

"She would phone me at two in the morning and then she would completely harass and hound me.”

Asked if she believed she would ever get the money back, Sarah said she was “painfully realistic”.

“I'm in the real world now and I know that it's probably very unlikely,” she said.

“I feel ashamed and I feel humiliated because I tried to help someone.”

As well as being given a suspended prison sentence, Older must undertake rehabilitation sessions and carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.

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