A former contestant on hit show ‘The Traitors’ has spoken out about falling victim to a devastating phishing scam that cost him his life savings. Sam Little, 35, from Yarm, near Middlesbrough, revealed he was duped out of £40,000 in cryptocurrency, an amount he had set aside for when he and his wife were ready to start a family.Sam described the experience as “gut-wrenching” and said he was never able to recover any funds. He is now determined to warn others how easily anyone can fall victim to such scams, no matter how cautious they think they are.
How to expose scams
Little explained that he received messages that appeared to be texts from his bank, warning him about logging into his account multiple times and instructing him to call them. When he calls, the scammers use the online platform he normally uses to access his account.
Scale of the problem
Since the scandal broke in January of this year, Little has spent time researching how common this type of theft has become. According to the Office for National Statistics, 4.6 million people in the UK are affected by cybercrime and fraud every year, with the number of reported cases increasing by 31% between 2024 and 2025.Little report fraud, which is managed by the London police to report scams. But the investigation has not yet started, he said. A spokesperson for the service told the outlet: “We are in the process of exploring this report through a manual review. Crypto wallets are a complex area of policing and will take time to resolve.”
