The victim of a scam who has lost everything

Hi my name is Elizabeth and I have started this Go Fund Me for my sister Nikki who has fallen victim to a nasty job scam.

Anyone that knows Nikki has seen that she would give the shirt off her back if you needed it. She has worked hard for everything she had and never asked for anything in return from anyone so for her to disclose what had happened, even to me, was extremely difficult for her.

I was sitting with Nikki as she detailed the events of the last couple of weeks and I watched her face crumble as she realised as she told me out loud, that what she'd been told by the 'employer' was simply not feasible...or genuine. In some ways I can see how she fell for it initially, as they had co-opted the company name and logo of a genuine company to give credence to their activities.

I showed her an article in the paper of a similar scam and when she read it, and recognised the similarities between her experience the bottom fell out of her world as she realised she had in fact been scammed.

Nikki is 53 and a carer for her husband who at 62 is in the later stages of early onset vascular dementia with multiple other medical conditions. She has been working part time up until recently but has had to cease work as her husband can no longer be left alone for extended periods. She has been looking for work from home jobs and was contacted by the scammer via LinkedIn.

She was a prime target for these people...desperately looking for work. A financial situation that was deteriorating weekly...and no way out on the horizon.

Sadly, she has given the scammer every last cent of money she had (to the point where our elderly mother lent her money to pay the rent)...and to make matters worse, also took out a bank loan. All on the 'promise' of getting her 'invested' funds returned as well as a being paid for the 'work' she had been performing.

As you can imagine, as well as the devastating financial implications she is unbelievably humiliated that she fell for this scam...particularly as she works in the financial sector.

I am asking everyone I know to please donate if you can, even if it's $5, I know it will help her. She feels absolutely lost and is struggling both emotionally and financially. Any money raised will go towards firstly to paying our mum back then paying the loan back and then putting some money away to support her husband.

I know so many are doing it tough at the moment, so a small donation or even just sharing the link with family and friends is all I ask. If we can forward it on to as many people as possible, it will make a huge impact to my sister and her family. Also, hopefully it will make more people aware of the type of scams that are ruining so many lives.