A senior citizen residing in Burnaby, British Columbia, was scammed out of more than $7.5 million in a cryptocurrency fraud, which the Burnaby RCMP unit says is one of the most substantial scams the detachment has ever investigated. The fraudsters employed a double-barrelled approach, first targeting the victim with a cryptocurrency fraud before posing as someone who could assist her in recovering her money. The police have issued a warning in response.
The scammers initiated contact with the victim in the spring of 2022, claiming to be seeking information about her personal business history. Over several months, the fraudsters established trust with the victim by communicating with her frequently via phone, text, and email in Mandarin. Eventually, the victim was persuaded to invest millions of dollars in a cryptocurrency wallet via an online trading app, making numerous deposits.
The scammers sent the victim fake apps that appeared to be legitimate cryptocurrency trading platforms, which she used to verify the balance of her account. The victim was unable to withdraw the money when she tried to do so, and the scammers stopped communicating with her. Later, she was contacted by someone using a different name, who claimed to be able to assist her in recovering her money. In reality, this was yet another fraud.
The scammers went to great lengths over several months to persuade the victim that these were legitimate investments. Cpl. Philip Ho of the Burnaby RCMP’s Economic Crime Unit noted that fraudsters often tailor their scams to target victims by using information about their career and business history to build trust and friendship. These types of frauds are frequently unreported, and it is essential for victims to come forward to the authorities so that the authorities can investigate and help support them, who are at a higher risk of being re-victimized once they have been defrauded by a scam.
The investigation into the fraud is still ongoing, and the police are utilising the case to illustrate the increasing frequency and complexity of fraud operations. They have advised the public to be cautious of common signs of cryptocurrency scams, such as an unusually high return on investments in a brief period, messaging victims at all times of the day to show an interest in their personal life, providing excuses to victims to withdraw money from the bank, and the absence of a formal investment contract or information about the product they will be purchasing.
