PARKSVILLE — One week after police were made aware of a six-figure cryptocurrency scam taking money from a local senior, another resident has suffered a similar fate.
Oceanside RCMP said a local individual reported to them on April 3 a scam, which resulted in them losing $130,000 over several weeks to a fraudulent cryptocurrency company.
Sgt. Shane Worth told NanaimoNewsNOW the unnamed individual was lured to make a small investment in the crypto market as a result of the supposedly trusted celebrity backing.
“The person followed all the steps, including setting up a digital cryptocurrency wallet, and they started investing. As they were investing, they saw that their investment kept growing, and they were showing huge rates of return online. Because the initial investment was starting to give these peak returns back, they invested more and more and more.”
Alarm bells began gradually ringing when the individual was repeatedly asked to pay taxes on their gains and fees for withdrawals, which they did.
Worth said it’s a substantial loss for a member of the community and a story they hear consistently.
“Our message to people is, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. If your returns are over the top and there’s huge rates of return that you weren’t getting on some other traditional investments, it’s probably too good to be true.”
All ages are affected by scams.
Police have noted in the past youth can be vulnerable, despite their familiarity with technology, due to an overconfidence factor.
However, seniors are disproportionately the victims.
“We definitely do have a demographic in the Oceanside area where people have worked hard all their lives, they may have some money to invest. This is a community that is mostly retired, so they may have some investment income or some retirement funds…so there is potential that people may be targeted here.”
Worth added scams come in different shapes and sizes and can be disguised in various ways, but all have common elements which are important to recognize.
“You’re being forced to make a quick decision about the investment, you have to do it now. You have to create new accounts on websites that you aren’t familiar with, so not your traditional bank websites. Don’t tell anybody about it…this is just for you, this is a special offer, special returns right now.”
Making transactions using mall or storefront cryptocurrency machines is also a massive red flag, according to Worth.
“No matter how much money it is, it’s your money, right? If it’s $130,000 or $13,000 or $1,300, it’s your money, it’s gone, and it’s very, very hard for us to recover that for people once it’s gone. We’re just trying to make people aware of the scams out there and the frauds and not to be taken advantage of.”
Police also recommend that younger people or caregivers have regular conversations with older friends and relatives about scams, to ensure vulnerable people are aware of the dangers.
Worth was not aware which celebrity endorsement was used in the scam.
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