RCMP shuts down quite a few fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms

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Cryptocurrency scams have been on the rise, defrauding Canadians of almost $11 million in 2020.

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The RCMP stated it has dismantled eight web sites related to cryptocurrency scams, which have exploded in Canada lately.

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The B.C. RCMP federal policing cybercrime operations group stated it shut down the bogus on-line cryptocurrency platforms after receiving quite a few complaints from individuals who have been scammed out of their cash.

The platforms lure rookie buyers by “attractive” on-line and social media advertisements, promising fast and excessive returns on investments.

The advertisements would immediate the curious investor to contact a bitcoin alternate platform. An organization consultant would then get in contact with them, then persuade or cajole them into placing cash in, both by a third-party funding platform or an app downloaded onto their house pc or cell phone that gave fraudsters entry to their monetary accounts.

Some buyers had been initially skeptical of the claims, however finally fell for the rip-off because of endured and repeated calls, stated RCMP.

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Later, they realized they had been duped into transferring cash right into a fraudulent account or had been defrauded by the app’s entry to their on-line pockets.

Police stated they are going to proceed to analyze “digital felony networks” even after the websites have been taken down, and warned potential bitcoin buyers to train warning, look ahead to purple flags, and do their analysis beforehand.

“Whereas legislation enforcement companies adapt and navigate by the customarily uncharted and unregulated territory of combating cybercrime, prevention continues to be a very powerful first plan of action,” RCMP Supt. Bert Ferreira in a press release.

Cryptocurrency fraud has been on the rise in Canada, leaping greater than 400 per cent between 2017 and 2020, stated RCMP. In 2020, Canadians misplaced almost $11 million by digital foreign money scams.

In 2021, crypto scams topped the Higher Enterprise Bureau’s listing of prime riskiest scams in Canada. Whereas they make up lower than 5 per cent of all scams reported to the BBB Rip-off Tracker, these scams usually tend to precise a better monetary toll, with a mean median greenback lack of $1,500.

chchan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/cherylchan





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