'Our dream cruise quickly turned into £25k nightmare because of this cruel scam'

"It's just the ease and impunity with which they are able to do this, and then the problems we have trying to rectify it."

A couple's dream holiday quickly became a nightmare when they fell victim to a mobile phone scam, leaving them feeling "totally helpless".

Stephen and Karen Ratchford, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, had embarked on a cruise last October, and were looking forward to switching off and relaxing. However, they ended up dealing with the stress of cancelling several loans taken out in Stephen's name, including a £25,000 loan from HSBC.

Their ordeal began just days after the cruise began in Malta on October 3, when they found out they had been "SIM-jacked" while in Split, Croatia, meaning they no longer had control over their mobile numbers, Manchester Evening News reports.

Stephen, 64, said: "Some scammer got hold of new SIM cards with our numbers - which obviously meant we lost ours - and they had total control of our phone numbers."

He is adamant he never "pressed a link or answered a phone call" that raised any suspicions, leaving him confused as to how the scam occurred.

However, once the scammers had successfully compromised his number, they could access his emails and other accounts using two-step verification by text.

"SIM-jacking", also known as "SIM-swapping", is a scheme where a malicious party transfers an unsuspecting victim's phone number to a new SIM card, which allows them to access incoming security codes used to compromise personal accounts and change passwords.

The couple's mobile network provider, iD Mobile, has since issued them with an apology and increased its security measures.

The scammers were able to drain money from the couple's joint bank accounts, take out loans and apply for overdrafts. Thankfully, they did not lose any money, as all banks involved began cancelling the loan and overdraft applications once the fraudulent activity was detected.

Stephen said he was left feeling "absolutely horrendous". He said: "When you are stuck on the other side of the world on a ship, and you hear this sort of thing going on, it is quite worrying. Thank goodness P&O let us use the phone, otherwise God knows where we would have been."

Speaking about the psychological effects of fraud, he said it "definitely messes with your head", and revealed he had become "paranoid" since the incident.

He added: "It's just the ease and impunity with which they are able to do this, and then the problems we have trying to rectify it.

"I want to raise awareness that two-tier verification is only any good if you are in charge of your phone... I'm quite savvy and if I've never heard of a SIM card swap I'm guessing a lot of people haven't."

Stephen said the scammers used premium messaging services to notch up a £150 bill on both his and Karen's mobile accounts, but iD Mobile said it covered the charges.

A spokesperson for iD Mobile said: "We're sorry to hear about what's happened here, and sincerely apologise to the customer for this. By December 2024, we had covered £150 in charges accumulated on his account and provided a gesture of goodwill payment of a further £75.

"Additionally, we have instituted further security measures to strengthen our verification processes before actions are taken relating to customer accounts."

An HSBC UK spokesperson said: "We are sorry to hear Mr Ratchford was the victim of a fraud. Fraudsters are devious criminals who use every trick in the book to steal money from innocent victims, without any thought or care for the impact it might have on their mental or financial wellbeing.

"Often scams start with simple information-gathering through social engineering where personal information will be harvested for use in the future for often life-changing, amounts.

"It can be difficult for banks and customers to pinpoint exactly where customer information has been harvested, but we all have a role to play in preventing fraud and scams.

"While we have experienced teams across the bank helping protect customers around the clock, we would encourage all customers to keep abreast of common scams and our latest scams warnings and advice by visiting our Fraud and Security Centre or Get Safe Online."

Claire Webb, Acting Director of Action Fraud, said: "Action Fraud can confirm that it received a number of reports on 28 October 2024. Each report was assessed by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) at the City of London Police but were not passed onto a police force for investigation. They will continue to be reviewed against new information received from Action Fraud reports.

"Over 850,000 reports are made to the NFIB every year and not all cases can be passed on for further investigation. Reports are assessed against a number of criteria, but not every case of fraud will result in a judicial outcome. There are different ways a report can be dealt with when it cannot be passed to a police force.

"These include the National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit (NECVU) helping victims to reclaim monies lost. Reports are vital in helping the police develop intelligence and take disruptive activity to prevent other people from falling victim, such as taking down websites, telephone numbers and email addresses linked to fraud."