Police in Peterborough, Ont., are warning the public after reporting an increase in cryptocurrency scams that have cost victims thousands of dollars.
Det. Ryan Black with the Peterborough Police Service’s fraud unit says collectively in 2023, victims of cryptocurrency fraud reported to the service losses totalling over $550,000.
Black says there are multiple forms of cryptocurrency fraud but investment scams are becoming increasingly prevalent. The scam often uses ads on social media that promise high returns on risk-free investments. Often the scam makes it appear a celebrity or public figure is endorsing the investment.
“They typically cause the most financial loss to victims,” he said.
Black says following a victim’s initial investment into an account with bitcoin or other cryptocurrency, the fraudsters make the victim believe their investment has made significant gains. They will encourage the victim to invest more cryptocurrency.
“It’s when the victim eventually 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 their funds and they learn they are a victim of fraud.”
Black cautions people when dealing with cryptocurrency since transfers are “extremely difficult” to trace to determine who has a victim’s funds.
He advises to only deal with reputable companies and investment advisors. Black also says to be wary that anything online can be faked.
“If something seems too good to be true, it probably is,” he said.
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