I fear I’ve been scammed by company I paid thousands to trace my real dad

DEAR DEIDRE: DESPITE shelling out thousands of pounds to a tracing company, I am no closer to finding out who my real dad is.

I’m a 55-year-old man.

After discovering my stepdad was not my real father I decided to mount the search.

I applied to a company but after six months of searching, they called to say they had exhausted all options.

They hadn’t been able to find him, despite me providing significant information.

Bizarrely, three hours later they called saying they had found a “sister” and wanted several hundred pounds more to reveal her to me, which I paid.

We’ve had DNA tests and there’s only a 50 per cent chance we are related.

I want to know how they used the details and information I gave them.

They provided a man with the wrong name, who had died, and the “sister” has not got a single photo of him, someone who is supposedly her father too.

None of it adds up. Have they simply invented a man to get money out of me?

DEIDRE SAYS: It sounds as though you have been the victim of a scam.

Don’t give them any more money. It’s natural to want to meet your biological dad.

My support pack Tracing Someone will help you as it gives information on reputable tracing organisations.

Try hard not to get your hopes up too high.

Some long-lost dads are thrilled to be contacted but some just can’t cope with the feelings it stirs up.