A MOTHER whose 'life savings' of nearly £90,000 was stolen by fraudsters has warned house buyers to beware of online scams.

Kelly Taylor from Great Hollands, Bracknell contacted the News following our story on the closure of Wilson and Berry solicitors published on Monday, February 17.

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Kelly is warning house buyers about email scams from people posing as trusted solicitors after she acted on an email asking her to pay her property deposit and giving bank account details.

Ms Taylor was a client of Wilson and Berry last year, which has coincidently been shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) because of "suspected dishonesty".

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However, there has been no suggestion from the SRA that the closure of Wilson and Berry is connected to Kelly’s case.

The international cabin crew worker said: "I was selling my home through part exchange to purchase a new home with Bellway.

"My solicitor was Wilson and Berry, Bracknell, whom I had used before. It should have been an easy sale but unfortunately this was not the case.

"I did not know anything about this type of fraud and found out on the day of completion that all of my life savings had been stolen from me. I will never forget that day as my world came tumbling down."

Kelly says she received a fraudulent email in February last year from someone claiming to be Wilson and Berry, requesting from her a deposit payment of £89,473 using the account details supplied.

Three days later, she received another email, genuinely from the law firm, asking why she hadn't paid her deposit.

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She rang the firm and they broke the news to her that she had been the victim of fraud and she should ring her bank.

"It was devastating, hell and this made me become ill with stress, anxiety, severe panic attacks and I didn't sleep for a week because of constant worry.

"My family and friends were extremely supportive and helped me tremendously get through every day."

An SRA spokesperson said: “Cybercrime continues to be a worry for law firms as they handle large amounts of money. It accounts for 75 per cent of all recorded crime in the UK, and in the first nine months of last year, we were told of nearly £4million of losses affecting solicitor firms.

“Solicitors and their clients should do all they can to protect themselves. We have published guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre for firms, while the government and police have useful tips for the public on their various websites.”

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Kelly has since got her money back with the help of the Financial Ombudsman but she has warned residents about her misfortune.

She said: "I'm now very paranoid about who I send my money to. I just transfer a £1 now and wait until I get a confirmation email and do not trust any email you receive, the email I got was sophisticated to the penny — it was scary."