thecoinrepublic.com
- Scammers lure victims promising large returns
- scammers are using fictitious names and identities or impersonating legitimate businesses
The York Regional Police Service is alerting the public about cryptocurrency investment scams in which con artists approach their victims via the internet and promise large payments.
The scam can start via communications on social media, unwanted email, dating sites, and online adverts, according to authorities. Fraudsters will claim to know bitcoin traders or investors, or they may claim to be one.
They’ll persuade customers to transfer money by promising a large return, even going so far as to build up bogus websites where victims can ostensibly view their funds in cryptocurrency accounts.
In many cases, these scammers are using fictitious names and identities or impersonating legitimate businesses, police noted in a press release. The fraudster will continue to demand more money and additional fees, and victims will finally be unable to reclaim any of their funds.
According to the police, people should trust their senses and never invest in or receive money from an unknown person.
Warnings
Last year also the York police warned investors that there was an increase in scams involving fraudsters posing as police officers or government officials. These fraudsters either demand payments in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. The York police issued a caution notice to the people dealing in cryptocurrency.
There were many people who fell prey to the scams and had informed police of losing thousands of dollars to such scams. The modus operandi of such scammers is to identify the victim and persuade them to withdraw all funds from their bank accounts and use Bitcoin machines to transfer all of their cash into an account number provided by them. It is a bitcoin account number.
Modus operandi
These suspects are so technologically savvy that they use software to change their telephone numbers to give the impression that they are calling from a police telephone line. They identify themselves as government officials discussing overdue taxes.
In one of the incidents, a victim fell prey to their scam and convinced him that they are from the Government of Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police or York Regional Police. The victim’s bank accounts, credit cards have been compromised.
These fraudsters generally ask the victims to transfer in a Bitcoin wallet as it is not regulated by any authority, which makes it easy for the scammers to cheat the innocents. It is a worldwide cryptocurrency and once the money is deposited into the machine and transferred to the account of the fraudster, it becomes impossible to track. It becomes impossible for the victims to get their money back.