Gareth Gates has claimed he lost a quarter of a million pounds after being scammed by a Forex currency trading ‘expert.’

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Gareth revealed: “I’m more careful now as I got burnt once and lost £250,000.

“I was a victim of that. I got nothing back and it was a big learning curve for me.

“I learnt a big lesson that I invested a little bit more than I possibly should have.”

Gates, who had hit singles such as ‘Unchained Melody’ and ‘Spirit in the Sky’, said he was conned after he saw his rich friends have ‘success’ with a Forex trader.

Gates handed over money up front to the trader and by the the second year of monthly payments, it became clear that the associate had lost all of his money.

“He obviously didn’t have good risk management in place, and he’d got himself in too deep,” explained Gareth.

Forex trading is when traders buy or sell on pairings of currency, so they gamble on whether the price of the US Dollar for example will fall or rise against another currency such as the Euro.

Traders try to get it right as much as possible and make money on the leverage.

However, the industry is full of many so called ‘experts’ who try to scam people out of their money either via using their money to play with or buying into their courses where they promise people to get rich quick.

Revealing his biggest lesson in money, the dad-of-one said: “You have to work hard then invest well and you have to give.”

The Pop Idol runner up, 36, last released an album in 2007 but has mostly been involved in musical work in the West End theatre.

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