Police in Peterborough, Ontario, warn the public after reporting an increase in cryptocurrency scams which have cost victims thousands of dollars.
Det. Ryan black with Peterborough Police Service fraud unit says collectively in 2023, victims of cryptocurrency fraud reported losses to the service totaling more than $550,000.
Black says there are multiple forms of cryptocurrency fraud, but investment scams are becoming more prevalent. The scam typically uses social media ads promising high returns on risk-free investments. Often, the scam makes it appear that a celebrity or public figure is endorsing the investment.
Receive the latest national news.
Sent to your email, every day.
"They typically cause the greatest financial losses to victims," โโhe said.
Black says that after a victim's initial investment in an account with bitcoin or another cryptocurrency, scammers make the victim believe that their investment has made significant profits. They will encourage the victim to invest more cryptocurrencies.
"When the victim ultimately wants to sell their investments and recover their funds, the company representative stops communicating with the victim," Black said. "And the victim is unable to recover any of the funds from him and finds out that he is a victim of fraud."
Black warns people when it comes to cryptocurrencies, as transfers are "extremely difficult" to trace to determine who has the victim's funds.
He advises dealing only with reputable companies and investment advisors. Black also says that he should be careful that anything online can be faked.
"If something seems too good to be true, it probably is," he said.
ยฉ 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
