Money blogFirst-time buyers This article is more than 13 years oldConned by the lure of gameshow
This article is more than 13 years oldDon't trust anyone too easily, not even friends, and never use other people's laptopsThe struggle to raise a house deposit continues, especially since I've realised (with the help of several Guardian readers) that my calculations were wrong. Very wrong. Drastically wrong. I need £45,000, not £30,000 as originally thought.
However, I am prepared to save for years and years if it means I will eventually have my dream Harpenden cottage. Perhaps I should lower my expectations and look further afield, as many of you have suggested, but I am stubborn, and when my heart is set on something it's hard to change it.
After my small pilot gameshow win and acceptance on to Pointless I was sure of my luck. Imagine my excitement when I spied an ad asking for terrific twosomes. I had no idea what I was signing up for, but after investigating the production company I saw they produced a well-known gameshow. My application was quickly sent off and my friend received a phonecall almost immediately, asking us to meet them at a bar the following week. Having not had any direct contact with the company I was still none the wiser, but my friend assured me it was an informal chat with the production team to discuss some ideas they had for gameshow formats.
The day finally arrived and off I trotted to meet my friend. I made no effort with my appearance, wearing my manky old parka and a touch of mascara, but it was only an informal chat after all. Arriving at the bar I was confronted by a confused barman who told me they weren't open because they were filming for the day. My friend said she would make a call to see what was going on.
I cannot go into huge amounts of detail but let's just say that I was conned, hustled, swindled, cheated, nobbled, diddled. It was not a meeting to discuss a future gameshow at all, but a ploy to get me to the bar to participate in a survey, which I did, and then to film me. I wouldn't have minded this if the company or my friend hadn't been so sneaky and pushy, but the whole experience left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.
Part of the scam was to access my private data. I had been asked to use my friend's laptop to complete a survey, and told to not log out. We were assured that the company would remove everything from the laptop after filming. This was not the case: my friend had access to pretty much all of my personal information, as well as access to one of my online shopping accounts.
I had to sign a release form while a member of the production team stood over me; I was not even given a chance to read it. When I got home and reflected on the day I realised I was in fact incredibly upset by the experience. After complaining to the production company and TV network they have promised not to show the footage.
But it's a hollow victory. There has been no offer of compensation and no responsibility taken for the fact that my friend has had access to my personal information and accounts.
I have learnt a valuable lesson, though: don't trust your friends too easily and don't use other people's laptops. At least there is still Pointless to look forward too.
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