The former ‘The Traitors’ contestant has revealed that the £40,000 he was saving to start a family with his wife was stolen in the scam.
A former contestant on hit show The Traitors has spoken about falling victim to a devastating trolling scam that cost him his entire life savings. Sam Little, 35, from Yarm near Middlesbrough, revealed he was scammed out of £40,000 in cryptocurrency, money he had been putting aside when he and his wife were ready to start a family.Sam described the experience as “painful” and said he was unable to recover any of the money. Now he is determined to warn others how easy it can be for anyone to fall victim to such scams, no matter how careful they may think they are.
How the scam unfolded
Little explained that he received messages that appeared to be text messages from his bank, warning him of multiple attempts to log into his account and asking him to contact them.
When he called, the scammers manipulated the online platform he normally used to access his account.
The realization of what had happened was immediate and devastating. “It’s like your world is just falling apart,” Little said.
“I worked hard for years to build this, and it just disappeared.”
The size of the problem
Since the scam occurred in January of this year, Little has spent time researching how common such thefts are. According to the Office for National Statistics, 4.6 million people are affected by cybercrime and fraud every year in the UK, with a 31% increase in the number of cases reported between 2024 and 2025.Little reported the scam to Fraud Reporting, run by the City of London Police.
But he said the investigation had not yet begun. A spokesperson for the service told the outlet: “We are exploring this report by conducting a manual review. Cryptocurrency wallets are a complex area for police and will take time to resolve.”
Sam Little’s message to others
Despite the lack of progress in recovering his money, Little remains focused on his primary goal: preventing others from experiencing the same ordeal. “I like to think I’m smart, but this could catch anyone,” he said. “It’s really scary.”“The Traitors,” the BBC reality competition series that brought Little into the public eye for the first time, is available to stream on BBC iPlayer in the UK and on Peacock in the US.