Anonymous donors have gifted hundreds of pounds to help a grieving Black Watch veteran who was targeted by fraudsters the day after his father died.
Jim Melville, who runs Fair City Removals, was conned out of £5,000 in an elaborate credit card fraud, which saw a fake customer transfer cash to him to pay a company on her behalf.
However the card she used to pay Jim turned out to be stolen and he has been ordered to return the cash. The Spanish bank account he paid the money into has been emptied and closed.
A devastated Jim was faced with selling his company vans, potentially sounding the death knell for the firm, to meet the bill himself until The Courier stepped in.
After our story was published on Tuesday, a man, who did not want to be identified, handed an envelope containing £500 into The Courier’s Dundee office with the request that it be passed on to Jim.
Just hours after we met up with Jim on Friday morning to spread the Christmas cheer, a second anonymous well-wisher donated the same sum online. Along with other donations, Jim has received more than £3,500.
Jim, who set up the company to ensure his son Jamie, who has cerebral palsy, would have a job for life, said he was “blown away” by the extraordinary gesture.
He said: “I’m having to pick my jaw up off the floor.Without The Courier it would never have happened. I am ever so grateful to everyone who has donated.
“This time last week my Christmas was shattered but because of all the donations, and especially these ones, not only has my faith in people been restored, but I feel fantastic again. It’s phenomenal.
“Within a week my attitude has completely changed — it had really brought me down but now I can see light at the end of the tunnel.
“At this time of year, for people to dip into their pocket to help an old fool like me is overwhelming. It’s not just the money, I’ve had messages of encouragement and support.”
Jim added that telling his story has prevented at least one person from falling victim to the same scam.
“When it happened I felt like an absolute clown and I thought people were going to judge me for being so stupid,” he said.
“But on Tuesday I got an email from someone who said they had got the same (scam) email. He said at first he would have gone through with it but luckily he had read my story in The Courier.
“That’s a great thought — that someone has not fallen into the same trap. It’s almost worth its weight in gold.”