THEY ARE BASTARDS!
We just got an email sent to MSE. The spelling was awful, and it was quite tough to understand. Lower down, the writer later explained she was 78 and her disability had stopped her being able to spell. So perhaps it is a stroke, or something similar.
I've tidied it and summarised below, changing some identifying details. In a nutshell, it was this...
"I invested, Martin, with Quotum when you first announced it on TV. What an opportunity for me to buy my own flat. My manager there passed me through to a nice man who asked me for ยฃ350 more. He showed me it was growing. I did what he told me to do."
She then goes on to explain how she really wanted her flat and she gave more and more money. And she has nothing left to help with her disability.
I'm honestly in tears typing this. These types of scam ads have now been going on for a decade. I have spent my career trying to help people with their finances. It feels visceral to get this, and to feel that this reputation has been perverted by criminals to steal from someone who is clearly so vulnerable leaves me feeling nauseous.
So many people, both vulnerable and not, lose money and see their lives and wellbeing destroyed. It's now seven years since I sued Facebook. And yet still nothing is being done.
Big tech makes ยฃ3bn a year from these scammers. We have a law in place to make them responsible for these ads they're paid to publish, yet it isn't implemented. How many more of these do I have to receive - and far worse, how many more people have to go through this?
This is relentless. It is wrong. Government has to take action! I wrote to the PM just two weeks ago on this very issue. I've not heard back yet.
(We are, of course, going to try and point her in the right direction to get help, but that will be stressful for her too)
A statement from London Fire Commissioner, Jonathan Smith, on the first anniversary of the tragic fire in Bicester where three people, including London Firefighter Martyn Sadler, sadly died.
BREAKING: Music legend Sir Rod Stewart tears into "draft dodger" Trump over his despicable remarks insulting the sacrifices of the British soldiers and other NATO troops who died in Afghanistan.
The icon really didn't hold back...
โI may just be a humble rock star. Iโm also a knight of the realm and I have my opinions,โ said Stewart in a video posted to Instagram. "I was born just after [World War II] and I have great respect for our armed forces that fought and gave us our freedom so it hurts me badly, deeply, when I read that draft dodger Trump has criticized our troops in Afghanistan for not being on the front line."
"We lost over four hundred of our guys. Think of their parents. Think about it. And Trump calls them almost like cowards," he continued. "It's unbearable. So I'm calling on you Prime Minister Starmer and [Nigel] Farage, please make the draft dodger Trump apologize. Please."
Stewart ended his video with a salute, driving home the message. It comes amidst a wave of widespread backlash from our British friends across the pond after Trump unleashed a jaw-droppingly offensive rant at Davos.
โWeโve never needed them," Trump said of our NATO allies. "We have never really asked anything of them. You know, theyโll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that. And they did โ they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines."
In reality, the United States invoked Article 5 of the NATO charter after the terror attacks of 9/11 and our allies bravely answered the call, sending their sons and daughters to fight and die beside Americans in Afghanistan. It's utterly reprehensible that Trump, a pampered coward who faked bone spurs to avoid the Vietnam War, would attack the memory of real heroes.
Prime Minister Starmer addressed the remarks, calling them "insulting and frankly appalling" but stopped short of demanding an outright apology. He should do so immediately. While Trump will, of course, refuse to apologize because he's a pigheaded sociopath who's incapable of empathy, that doesn't mean we should let this slide. By demanding an apology, we force him to double down on his shameful comments and keep the story in the headlines.
Please โค๏ธ and share to demand an apology from Trump!