The saying “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is”, is, unfortunately, ringing true for too many British Columbians when it comes to Crypto investment.
As Cryptocurrency continues to gain traction, criminals are also reaping the benefits as they actively lure rookie investors through enticing online and social media ads promising quick and high returns on investment.
Over the last several months the BC RCMP Federal Policing Cybercrime Operations Group has received several reports from cryptocurrency investment fraud victims claiming they have been defrauded through an array of intricate online investment schemes.
Corp. Arash Seyed, with the Federal Serious and Organized Crime Unit, said, many of the victims had been lured by online ads promising immediate high returns on cryptocurrency investments, leading them to contact the cryptocurrency exchange platform to inquire about the prospect of multiplying their return on investment.
“This is where a company representative convinced them to invest in cryptocurrency either through a third-party investment platform, or an app downloaded onto their home computer or mobile device that gave the fraudsters access to the victim’s investment account,” Seyed explained.
According to Seyed, many of these victims were novice cryptocurrency investors who first believed the promise of immediate returns were too good to be true, but persistent calls from company representative encouraging them to continue to…
