[Content warning - this article contains references to suicide and self harm. Please see footnote]

Most weeks, to be fair nearly every week, we run stories on Financial Planning Today about scammers or financial crooks who have cheated clients out of all or part of their savings.

Inevitably we focus mostly on the money lost, the crafty way some crook dipped into the wallet of clients and then often the punishments meted out by the courts or the FCA.

We try, as much as possible, to cover the human impact: the poor clients who, in many cases, have lost some or all of their life savings.

As long as I’ve worked in this sector I’ve always reminded our own journalists that we are never writing just about money. We are writing about people and their money, how they accumulate it and spend it.

Financial Planners know this. Money, for many of their clients, is an enabler, not an end in itself. It's a route to a more comfortable or fulfilled life.

Of course for those victims of scammers or crooked advisers who have lost large amounts of money there is an often less-reported direct and painful human impact.

Dreams are destroyed, life plans come unstuck, the retirement home by the coast or overseas is no longer on the agenda. These are the obvious and upsetting collateral of financial scams but there is worse, much worse.

This came home to me this week with a moving feature written for our latest Financial Planning Today Magazine by anti-scam campaigner Andy Agathangelou, founder of the Transparency Task Force which lobbies for more effort to tackle scams and better financial regulation.

As he writes in his feature, it’s often forgotten that the victims of financial scams suffer not just financial loss but, in many cases, a crisis of confidence, often angry with themselves that they have been caught out by scammers.

Victims can suffer a complete collapse of trust in others and even the onset of 'hyper-vigilance' and 'paranoia', according to TTF’s research. Mental health suffers.

At the most basic level victims can lose their homes and permanently damage their living standards. Home repossessions are not uncommon, according to Mr Agathangelou. This is not the stuff of headlines but it is the human misery caused by scams.

You can read our article on the devastating human impact of financial crime here and read Mr Agathangelou's longer article in the latest Financial Planning Today magazine. Register on Financial Planning Today website to receive the magazine regularly.

Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, receives around 18,000 calls a year characterised by ‘emotional distress’ plus around 250 calls a year which involve a ‘threat to life’ due to the individual indicating suicidal tendencies.

This sounds pretty bad but the TTF found out earlier this year in a very close to home way that talk of people becoming emotionally destabilised by fraud is no idle speculation.

Earlier this year one of the TTF’s own tireless volunteers, lawnmower repair man Ian Davis, 61, became so upset with the frustration of trying to pursue his own case for compensation and justice that he took his own life. Apart from being a TTF volunteer Mr Davis was also a major victim of the £237m London Capital & Finance (LCF) mini-bond collapse scandal. More than 11,000 people lost when LCF collapsed, including Mr Davis who must have been one of the biggest victims.

Mr Davis, trusting the mostly bogus claims by LCF that it was fully regulated, handed over to company his £600,000 in life savings. Parking the money in a safe place for a few years, or so he thought. Instead he lost the lot and with it went all his dreams and plans for retirement.

Mr Agathangelou said: “Ian lost the will to live after being passed from pillar to post, from one authority to another, trying to piece together what had happened in the scam and trying to get the various agencies, including the FCA, to talk to him and help him.”

It’s worth remembering that while the government did step in with a compensation scheme it was capped. The FSCS also has an £85,000 limit. or those investing large lump sums, perhaps their entire nest egg, the losses can potentially be huge if their provider collapses.

Mr Davis thought his LCF investment was safe, secure and properly regulated. It was none of these. The fear is that with the rapid rise in the number of financial scams there could be more tragic cases like Mr Davis.

But it doesn’t have to be like this. The FCA, government and compensation bodies could get together to devise a scheme that would cover most of the losses for unsophisticated investors like Mr Davis.

Mr Davis’ main problem was trusting the regulators and others to do their jobs in making sure that he could only buy relatively safe and regulated products and that his losses would most be covered in the event of catastrophe. Sadly this wasn’t the case and a good man lost his life.

Scammers and fraudsters are not just financial crooks, they destroy lives. They can be killers, for want of a better word.

The evil people behind the scams need to be published more severely and innocent victims like Mr Davis deserve much better treatment.

• There are many resources to help if you or any clients have been affected by any of the coverage in this article, including The Samaritans. Samaritans are available day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123, email them at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or visit www.samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.

The full version of the TTF article is published in the latest edition of Financial Planning Today magazine. Financial Planning Today magazine is the only UK publication exclusively for Financial Planners and Paraplanners and is available in digital and print editions on subscription. For more details of subscription options click on 'My Account' on the website homepage (once you've registered for Financial Planning Today website).

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Kevin O'Donnell is editor of Financial Planning Today and has worked as a journalist and editor for over three decades.