MONEY Saving Expert Martin Lewis said he was "gutted" after a listener lost more than £20,000 to a scam.

The victim of the scam had seen a link, claiming to be from Mr Lewis, advising that people invest £250 in bitcoin.

The scammers then phoned saying that a further £20,000 should be invested for a good return.

All of the money was lost.

The Money Saving Expert said he was "gutted" to read the news, adding that he doesn't do adverts and any claiming to be connected to him "are a scam".

Mr Lewis tweeted: "Gutted to have just read 'I'll never listen to you again as they 'followed ur link to invest £250 in bit coins. They called said I should invest another £20,000 for a good return... I lost everything.'

"What more can I do to get message out 'I DON'T DO ADS, THEY ARE A SCAM!'

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Gwent Police offer the following advice on how to avoid being scammed.

They said: "Be alert to online scams and don't click on links that you are not sure about. Never give people personal information or credit card details unless you can confirm who they are.

  • Never open emails that look odd and don’t click on links that you are not sure of
  • Know who you are dealing with if you are providing any personal data. Note that banks will never ask for your account numbers or pin details
  • Be suspicious if anyone asks you for personal or financial information
  • Often scams will try to look like genuine accounts
  • Make sure you don’t provide information online or through social networks that could help people to steal your identity
  • Make sure you are using a secure website for any financial transactions, look for a padlock symbol or 'https' in the address bar to denote a secure site
  • Ensure you have security software that will block spam or phishing emails. Switch your computer's firewall on and keep the anti-virus software up-to-date"