Mother of former Burnley Youth Theatre student on mission to raise awareness of elaborate scammers after her son conned out of life savings

Patrick Ralphson (23) fell prey to an elaborate scam by thieves posing as the Inland Revenue, who got in touch with him to say he hadn’t paid enough tax after completing his first tax return. And in addition to that he was also told that his identity had been ‘stolen.’

Feeling unsure about the authenticity of the emails and phone calls Patrick, a former student at Burnley Youth Theatre who now has a residency in a number of central London bars where he performs regularly, researched the contact details and they came back as bonafide government numbers. After being passed around from one department to another and eventually the police, Patrick, who also started a business called Rostar, a bespoke agency putting artists like himself into pubs in the London area, paid the ‘bill’ and lost £8,700, his entire life savings. And his bank has confirmed that he will not be able to claim any of it back.

At first reticent to speak about the crime as the perception is that older people or the vulnerable are the main victims of these cruel scammers, Patrick, who attended Wheatley Lane Primary School in Fence, made the decision to go public to warn other young people not to fall victim to scammers. Patrick’s mum Molly, who lives in Trawden, said: “The scammers used a complicated, well-researched and clever method. Patrick is intelligent and computer-savvy but they managed to completely convince him.”

In a bid to help her son gain back some of his lost earnings Molly has set up a gofundme page which she also intends to use to help others to be scam aware. Well wishers have already donated £1,300 and for every £1 donated Molly and her family are going to deliver “Take Five’ leaflets which raise awareness of scams and encourages people to stop and take five minutes before paying any money to anyone.

Molly added: “ I am 100% sure if someone had mentioned an Inland Revenue/ Identity Theft scam to Patrick before this happened, the outcome would be very different.” To donate to Patrick’s fund please click HERE