Nuneaton Gurkha veteran's scam alert...

A prominent Nuneaton businessman and Gurkha veteran has warned people not to fall for a scam using his name.

Restaurateur Om Gurung has alerted them to a ‘bogus’ email message telling everyone, who receives it that he is in trouble.

The email says he has had to make an ‘urgent trip’ to Madrid, Spain and has found himself in a ‘predicament.’

It goes on to say has been attacked, has lost all of his belongings and needs money to get him out of a mess.

The message ends: ‘Kindly let me know if you would be able to help me out so that I can forward you the details for a wire transfer.’

It is claimed to have been sent from ‘Om Parkash Gurung MBE, Nuneaton, Warwickshire’ and is from a mobile number given as 07971 286 968.

But Om Gurung said: “I am not in Madrid, I have never been in Madrid and I did not send the email.

“I don’t need any money and I don’t want people to send their bank details to anyone.”

A leading figure in the Nepalese community in the borough, he runs the Crossed Khukris Restaurant in Abbey Street, Nuneaton.

He said: “It is a con trick, but it is clever and very cunning.

“I do have an MBE and the mobile phone number is just one digit different to the one for the restaurant.”

A former Regimental Sergeant Major in the Queens Gurkha Signals, he made Nuneaton his home when he retired from Bramcote Barracks.

Since then, he has become an active Rotarian and is a past-president of the Rotary Club of Nuneaton.

He also helped to found the British Gurkha Veterans Association which is rooted in Nuneaton.

As well as that, he has also helped to raise many thousands of pounds for Ex-service and local charities.

That is why be thinks he has been targeted by the scam: “It could be a form of jealousy, but I don’t want anyone to fall for it,” he said.

“Around four dozens of my friends have already been in touch with me about the email.

“They all realised straight away that it was not real because they know I am not out of the country or have any plans to go to Madrid or anywhere else in Spain.

“But they are concerned, and so am I, that nobody should fall for it. If anyone gets the email they should just ignore it.”