Fraud: 'I had £18,000 stolen after my drink was spiked'

"Thinking about [what happened] over and over is actually very worrying and quite scary."

Ben Gregory, 26, believes his drink was spiked during a night out in Clapham in south London.

Criminals then stole £18,000 using financial apps on his smartphone.

A leading campaigner in the fight against fraud says Ben's case appears to show fraudsters adopting the "sinister" tactic of spiking drinks to steal money from victims.

David Clarke, chair of the Fraud Advisory charity, says people need to be alert to the dangers this Christmas party season.

"Fraudsters are cruel, devious people online and in the physical world and people must be alert to the danger of having drinks spiked especially in the Christmas party season when people may be off guard."

Ben was on a night out with friends in the summer which went from a nice meal out, to a nightclub... before he woke up late the next morning unable to anything.

"I waking up... with no phone or wallet," he says.

"I woke up pretty dizzy, dazed, not quite sure what happened so obviously I was a bit alarmed.

"I had some messages on my work phone from my brother saying: 'Is everything OK [because] there's been an overdraft opened on our t . What's happened":[]}