To think many fell for the Captain Tom scam

[Binjob118]

I never understood all the fuss about Captain Tom. A rich old man walked around his garden and was lauded as a hero. Family then go on freebie holiday to Barbados whilst rest of us were locked down for Christmas. Then it turns out he was part of family scam to pay the family from book proceeds. No wonder so many people in this country are targeted by scammers, we are a gullible lot.

Never understood the hype

Yeah it's as if people think shit people don't get old..like all these shit adults don't die spontaneously at 60.

Did the £28m go to the NHS?

I think your a little unreasonable to say Captain Tom was in on the scam.

Nobody can know if he wanted the book money to go to his daughter, he's dead so he can't tell us

Lol, I lost my shit on fb when someone I know who lives in a European country (used to live in the UK) was squawking about how awful it was that "it was shocking that the NHS had to be kept afloat by an old man"

It was ridiculous that this stupid, mawkish story was being spun that way and people in other countries actually believed that he had anything to do with supporting the clinical NHS.

I was a proper grundle at the time about both Captain Tom and the stupid pot banging and clapping and I make no apologies for my attitude.

Tom Moore was patronised by the media because he was very elderly, but he was no fool. In his working life he was first an Army officer, then a shrewd & successful businessman who led an MBO & subsequently sold the business, making himself a wealthy man.
He knew exactly what he was doing during his fundraising campaign and played the role of sweet, vulnerable old man perfectly. If the whole thing was a scam, he was in on it.

The British public are always so desperate to do something in an emergency or crisis that they give little thought to whether it is useful or right. People donated to make themselves feel good, to make them feel like they had made a contribution in the face of crisis. They didn’t really give any consideration to where they were sending their money or what it would be spent on.

Yes, the family were probably making an unethical fortune from quite early on, but really it’s about time that the public took a bit of responsibility for considering their charitable donations. While the public are still so careless with their cash, there will always be unpleasant people willing to exploit them.

Well, she would say that wouldn't she.

I couldn’t fathom why anyone cared at all in the first place. Like the naff clapping. Who the fuck did that help?! Us British are generally a bunch of ballbags.

When the Captain Tom story broke, I thought it was sweet. Then I heard him interviewed and thought... 'hmm I'm not sure about you actually'.

Then, as it got bigger, and I heard more from him I thought 'no- yes you're old, yes you served, but you're still a privileged arsehole who believes your own hype'

Not a hugely popular opinion at the time {grin]

Totally agree

For every person that ent viral, there were plenty more in the background doing similar things tha didn't get any attention. The difference is knowing how to use the media to your advantage (or having someone to do it for you)

Tom Moore jut became the face of the elderly trying to do something positive. Like loads of other people.

I don't think its fair to blame him for watching happened after. But he's not saint.

Lots of people have a massive blind spot for a) the elderly and b) the armed forces and can't see that anyone who is either (let alone both) can be anything other than angelic. It's the blindness that was exploited, and it won't be the first time or the last.

Yes. Or rather it went to the NHS Together charity, as stated at the time.

The more dubious activities come from the Capt Tom Foundation that his daughter started…

I didn't donate. Always queried what was going on with this. Devious scheme either way.

NHS Together have been trashed in the press for wasting most of it. £28 million us a staggering amount to blow with nowt to show for it.

Could have bought meds, surgeons and operations - mostly went on free tangerines in hospital foyers.

I remember eye rolling at the charity "song" he did with Michael Ball. It was cringey and unnecessary. (Ready to be flamed but I feel similarly about a Chelsea pensioner who won bgt a couple of years previously) If either of them had sent a demo tape anonymously to a radio station or record producer without a sob story no one would have given it the time of day, and probably chucked in the bin within seconds.

I'd be interested to know if his other daughter, Lucy, has benefitted from these monies. We never hear about her since his death.

There is no doubt that Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband are double dealers. The disingenuous responses where they complain about unfairness and she distances herself from every contentious issue leave me cringing. Her husband's businesses were on the point of bankruptcy and were fed money by the Captain Tom funds as 'consultancy fees'. The Barbados holiday was paid for. She kept £16,000 for one public appearance as CEO of the fund and gave the other £2000 to the charity. The spa pool and building is just ludicrous- it comes across as entirely unbelievable. Her £85,000 salary a year from the charity is shocking- considering she has no experience of being a CEO and the job was not even advertised. The £800,000 they made from the books bought in his name by the public, which had a comment in the front saying the funds would go to his charity is just a really shameful action from these two people.
Whether they expected no one to notice all of this or just didn't see how dreadful their behaviour is, I can't tell, but they both come across as entitled, greedy, not very likeable and quite pompous individuals who still seem to feel badly done to, despite the £1000,000 + they have made from all of this.

We weren’t the first country to start the clapping @1smallhamsterfoot

The money donated to NHS charity was separate to the Foundation

I think he was just too old to have a say in what happened. The daughter on the other hand saw an opportunity and made the most of it (for herself). Don’t like the husband either.

I'm afraid I lost the will to give a shit when he dueted with Michael Ball.

She stuck herself everywhere and won’t be able to go anywhere without people whispering and finger pointing at her.

Shane on her for diverting money to herself.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a big chunk of it was misappropriated by the ringleaders of the scam.

@Supersimkin2 I assume there are rules about what the NHS charity can spend the money on. Probably similar to PTAs and schools where their funds aren’t meant to be used for normal running costs