A young British woman's dream vacation in Zante turned into a nightmare when her stolen phone led to a significant financial loss.
Lydia Coates shared her ordeal on TikTok, in a video captioned "How a simple mistake in Zante cost me over £10,000."
In the video, she recounted how her phone was stolen during a boat trip in 2022 when the thief gained access to her online banking information through her driver's license, which was stored in her phone case.
The thief then transferred £12,242 from her Help-to-Buy ISA, a type of savings account, to an unknown individual named Jessica.
Upon discovering the theft, Lydia immediately contacted the police, but they were unable to offer much assistance.
"The biggest mistake I made on that holiday was putting my driver's license in the back of my phone case," Lydia explained. "My birthday, on the driver's license in the back of the phone, was the passcode to my phone and the passcode to my online banking."
The incident left Lydia devastated, as the stolen money represented years of savings. She was also forced to enroll in an identity theft protection program to safeguard her personal information.
After a series of appointments with banks and the police, Lydia was able to recover the stolen funds through fraud protection. However, the perpetrator was never caught, and the phone was never recovered.
In a follow-up video, Lydia reassured her followers that she had resolved the issue by changing all her banking details and closing her previous account.
She also urged others to learn from her mistake and take precautions to protect their finances while traveling.