22 May 2010
Bingo News: £9000 stolen from Pensioner spent on Bingo
A pensioner has claimed she has been robbed of thousands of pounds through online bingo and now a reward is being offered to catch the culprits.
Rita Tapping has endured much stress trying to recover the funds whilst also caring for her sick husband John and has had a breakdown. Unable to continue caring for John, she reluctantly put him in a care home where he died last year.
The 63 year old pensioner had devoted herself to her husband’s care since he had a stroke back in 2007. Rita would put him to bed at 6pm every night and being stuck in the house, she began to play online bingo to keep her entertained.
In April 2008 Mrs Tapping realised that nearly £9000 had been gambled form her Natwest bank account without her knowledge. She only ever wagered up to £20 a time so was sure it was not an error on her part.
The thieves were unable to gain any of the winnings as they were all paid directly to Mrs Tapping’s bank account. They won £3000 which has left her £6000 down which she now hopes to recover.
Mrs Tapping is under the impression someone local may have taken her money and gambled it as she had used an unsecured network between April and May 2008.
She said; “My only crime was I used an unprotected wireless router. I think somebody local picked up on that. They did not need to get into my account because I was already in it. They picked up on where I was and I believe they gambled for fun and kicks.”
Mrs Tapping took her case to the financial ombudsman after speaking with the Police, the three online bingo companies and her bank, Natwest. The case was ruled against her because the gamblers did not gain from the winnings and she now wishes to prove the £9000 was taken illegally and clear her own names.
Dream Bingo, one of the companies involved had offered Mrs Tapping £3600 which her bank advised her not to accept as they would not be able to proceed with the case as a fraud but they later ruled this out anyway which angered Mrs Tapping who has been a Natwest customer for 47 years. Following the bank’s decision not to pursue this as a fraud case, Dream Bingo also withdrew their offer.
Mr Tapping suffered another stroke not long after the decision was made in August 2008 and a few months later, Rita had to put him into the Jasmine Care Home as she simply couldn’t cope. She said that she regretted having to put her husband into a home for his last few months of life.
“If I had been mentally strong enough and had not had this on my mind I would have had him at home, but I had to put him in a home. I had a total mental breakdown,” she said. “He was aware of it but there was nothing he could do. He was incontinent and paralysed. I used to go to the nursing home and he would just say, ‘I want to come home’.
“It was definitely a contributing factor in his death, definitely. He could see that I was stressed.
“I was so stressed I could not look after him. I had to have him put in a home. It was a very sad time in my life and he died still worrying about the money.”
A NatWest spokeswoman commented: “We are keen to look into this matter for Rita Tapping, but have been unable to speak to her today. Once we have full details of the issue, which happened two years ago, we will be able to undertake a full investigation.”