Newtownabbey man targeted by fraudster

Detailing the theft, a spokesperson for NI Direct said: “A gentleman from the Newtownabbey area previously held timeshare in Spain and Portugal, but sold them through a Spanish company. Unfortunately he never received money for the sale.

“He was then contacted by someone calling himself Joshua, who said he could help him recover the money he lost. The gentleman sent Joshua over £20,000 in various payments, but Joshua has now cut off all contact.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if ‘Joshua’ was also the original fraudster who never paid for the timeshare. This is a common tactic of scammers to continue to take money from people; scam them out of money, and then scam them again by pretending to get the money back for them, for a fee.”