The brother of a Lotto winner has managed to squander a million pounds in just five months, thanks to some rather unwise investments and a little help from Nigerian scammers. Denis Ryan, a 51-year-old road sweeper was given £1,000,000 by his brother Dave Dawes, who won a £101 million jackpot in 2011.
Sadly though, it appears that he simply couldn’t handle money. He first went on a massive shopping spree, buying a £250,000 home, a £79,000 flat, a caravan, a new car and a bunch of toys like quad bikes for the entire family. Worse, he was duped out of his last £60,000 by internet scammers.
It appears that the fraudsters hijacked his brother’s Facebook profile and started asking him for money. First they asked for £4,000 to pay a friend’s cancer treatment in South Africa. Denis obliged and transferred a total of £27,500. The scammers took another shot, claiming that his brother had been caught drinking in a public place in Dubai and needed cash to post bail. He sent another £13,000, despite the fact that family members insisted Dave was in the UK, reports The Sun.
As if that wasn’t enough, he was fleeced out of another £10,000 after he demanded to talk to his brother. He got a call from a man with a Nigerian accent, but fell for it anyway.
