Pavel lost money after disregarding advice from his bank

Pavel's children lived outside Ireland and he felt isolated from them and depressed about not being able to help them and his grandchildren financially.

He saw an ad for investing in cryptocurrency suggesting that he could start with as little as $200. Pavel thought this would be a good way to get money to give to his family and contacted the company who said it would set up a trading account for him. Pavel felt that the account looked legitimate.

Pavel tried to buy cryptocurrency with his bank card, but it was rejected, as his bank did not allow the purchase of cryptocurrency with a card. When the payment failed, Pavel rang his bank to see why it had not gone through and it explained that investing in cryptocurrency is risky and that there was a lot of fraud in this area. The bank asked if Pavel was sure he was not dealing with fraudsters. Pavel told the bank he would get his son to check but never did, as he wanted the money to be a surprise.

Pavel's investment company told him his investment had now grown to €5,000. When Pavel asked it for some of the money, the company said that as Pavel did not have a very long banking history, he would need to send them €20,000 in order to get the €5,000. Pavel had exhausted his funds so he applied for an overdraft and an online loan, both of which were granted by the bank. He sent the money to the investment company in order to have access to his returns. When he didn't get any money back, he realised it had all been a scam.

Pavel's investment company told him his investment had now grown to €5,000. When Pavel asked it for some of the money, the company said that as Pavel did not have a very long banking history, he would need to send them €20,000 in order to get the €5,000. Pavel had exhausted his funds so he applied for an overdraft and an online loan, both of which were granted by the bank. He sent the money to the investment company in order to have access to his returns. When he didn't get any money back, he realised it had all been a scam

The bank said that Pavel himself had authorised all payments to the fraudsters. However, it acknowledged it should not have authorised an overdraft and a loan when it was aware that Pavel was intending to invest in cryptocurrency. It offered to clear the loan and the overdraft on the condition that Pavel would agree to meet with a bank official to discuss the protection of his future banking. Pavel agreed to this offer in full and final settlement of his complaint/