A woman who lost almost £6,000 to a sophisticated cryptocurrency scam is speaking out to help defeat stigma around being a victim of fraud.

Carly Rowena, 37, an author and entrepreneur, was targeted by fraudsters in March 2023.

Rowena said: 'I'd like to think I'm not someone that would fall for scams. but this one was very clever, and I think the more people talk about this the more it helps.'

The scam began when Rowena saw a friend of hers post an Instagram story that she had paid someone to manage her bitcoin, and had seen a large return.

Intrigued, Rowena messaged her friend, who passed on the details of her contact at an investment firm.

Little did she know, but Rowena was actually speaking to a fraudster. Her usual guard was down, as the investor seemed to come highly recommended by a trusted friend.

'I don't think of scams when I'm viewing my friends' content,' Rowena said. 'I messaged her and asked if it was legit. She said yes, this woman is incredible. It overcame the trust factor as this person seemed to know my friend.'

The scammer sent Rowena details of an investing website, as well as a contract to sign, and promised her portfolio could increase in value by 50 per cent in just 24 hours.

Everything seemed to be legitimate, so Rowena accepted, and transferred £1,304.49 in ethereum and £4,412.11 to the fraudster in instalments, and was able to track the performance of her 'investments' through a special online dashboard.

Then the next day fraudster got in contact with some good news - Rowena's cryptocurrency holdings had increased to £75,000.

But the delighted Rowena was then told that she would need to pay a fee of $7,500 in bitcoin in order to get her money.

It was at this point that Rowena was suspicious. Why was she being asked to pay a fee, rather than it being taken out of the profits she had apparently made?

She then messaged her friend, the one that had apparently recommended the investor in the first place, and was told something chilling.

Rowena's friend's phone had been hacked, and all of her social media accounts taken over as part of an elaborate ploy to lure others into paying the fraudster some money.

Rowena confronted the fraudster, and said she was not going to pay the additional fee. Immediately the tone of the conversation changed, and the scammer said she could not get any of her money back without paying the charge.

After reporting the matter to Action Fraud and Instagram, Rowena resigned herself to the knowledge that her £5,716.60 was gone for good.

Rowena said: 'I feel shame, I feel guilty, I feel stupid for a lot of things. It was too good to be true, but there were so many elements, and I had a recommendation through a friend.'

The stigma of fraud

Many scam victims report feeling shame, anxiety and trauma, according to research from cloud computing firm Akamai.

Victims also feel there is a stigma attached to having been defrauded. This helps perpetuate fraud, as victims feel shamed into silence and many do not report the crime or even tell anyone.

A survey of 1,002 Britons who have been a victim of cybercrime in the past year, commissioned by Akamai, reveals most are ashamed of their experience, feel they've done something wrong, and believe there's an unfair stigma placed on them.

On average, cybercrime costs the victims surveyed £808. As a result, one in five struggled to pay their bills or had to cut back spending on essentials like food in the wake of these financial losses.

However, the damage cybercrime causes to mental health is less widely understood.

Nearly two-thirds of Britons said they felt traumatised by what happened to them and the majority also admitted to feelings of shame and embarrassment.

Meanwhile, 55 per cent said they continued to experience anxiety after the cybercrime, especially while using online services, and nearly one in three had trouble sleeping.

Natalie Billingham, of Akamai, said: 'Cybercrime is not just a technological issue; it's a human one.

'Cybercriminals prey on a victim's vulnerability as there's still a perception that if you're a victim of cybercrime, you've done something wrong.

'They rely on their victims not talking about their attack. We need to stop this 'cyberstigma' because if we're more understanding about cybercrime, and talk about it more, we'll stand a better chance of fighting back against cybercriminals.'