Teacher lost life savings after hacker bought his identity on dark web for $10

A teacher's identity was sold on the dark web for $10, leading him to lose £3,500 in savings.

Matthew Shaw, a 27-year-old science teacher, was on holiday in Cornwall in August 2021 with his wife Davina, 27, when he received a notification stating he had just paid £3,500 on a hotel room.

Matthew immediately called his bank First Direct who told him someone from Romania had opened up an account in his name with a digital financial services company called Monese. The scammer used Matthew's details and linked them to his First Direct account to pay for a hotel.

The £3,500 transaction left Matthew with just £20 in his bank account, and the couple from Bourton-on-the-Hill, Gloucestershire, had to end their holiday a week early, leaving Davina in tears.

Matthew praised First Direct as "brilliant" and fortunately the money was refunded a week later. Despite tightening his personal security details, Matthew still receives at least six or seven email notifications every day asking him to approve unauthorised sign-in attempts.

The couple had booked tickets to visit a seal sanctuary and a crystal maze in Cornwall and were on their way to try jet skiing when Matthew received the notification.

"First Direct said my email had been hacked and a person in Romania had obtained my ID, set up a bank account using my ID, and then basically paid for a hotel with all the drinks and everything using my credentials, which then came out of my bank account," Matthew told PA Real Life.

“They said the process was that someone had hacked into my email, got my ID and everything, and then that was published to the dark web… and, apparently, you could pay 10 dollars to access someone’s information."

Matthew described himself as tech-savvy and had different passwords for all his accounts. He also regularly changed his email address and did not think he was vulnerable to identity theft.

As he waited for updates from First Direct’s investigation, Matthew was feeling "concerned" and wondered: "How is this even possible? What else have they got access to?"

After a week, the £3,500 payment was refunded to his First Direct account, which was a huge "relief", and Matthew said he was "impressed" with how the bank handled the case.

He was placed on a 12-month fraud prevention programme, which meant he had to go through "rigorous" processes when making large transactions, obtaining a loan or setting up a new account or credit card.

He said these processes sometimes took several hours, and although it was "frustrating" and some of his transactions were initially blocked, it made him feel "secure".

"At the time, it was very frustrating to sit and do a million security questions… and trying to apply for things was a nightmare, but reflecting on this, I was grateful," he said.

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