Ever considered yourself unlucky? Well, consider this: 39-year-old Welsh IT engineer James Howells (pictured) has lost almost $650 million (£535m). Even worse, he thinks he knows exactly where his fortune is – he’s just not allowed to retrieve it.  

What happened to James is the stuff of nightmares. It's the story of 8,000 Bitcoins worth around $80,000 (£65k) each, the hard drive that stores them… and over a million tonnes of rubbish… 

It’s 11 years since James had his stroke of bad luck, but he’s not giving up. Read on to discover his agonising story – and his tireless campaign to get his money back.

All dollar amounts in US dollars.