How a Canadian couple lost nearly $300,000 in a crypto scam

A Toronto couple became the latest victims of a cryptocurrency scammer. They lost about $300,000 in an elaborate scheme.

But in this case, the police managed to recover a “significant part” of the lost funds and returned them to the victims.

Another crypto scam in Canada

Toronto Police Service announced earlier this week that an elderly man and his spouse, whose name was not released, were victims of a cryptocurrency scam.

The couple were willing to invest their savings somewhere when they were contacted by an unknown person online who presented himself as “professional and knowledgeable” in the investment field. After gaining the family’s trust, he advised them to distribute their money on a fake crypto platform. The perpetrator then encouraged victims to send some capital via a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange to a designated wallet.

The duo didn’t see anything wrong at first, as the value of their investment grew “significantly” on the application from the scammer. At one point, they even transferred money directly to the person concerned.

Victims began to notice problems when they asked to withdraw some holdings. The scammer insisted that they pay large fees or invest more to complete such transactions. In the aftermath, they parted with almost $300,000.

The Toronto Police Service conducted an investigation and was able to recover a “significant portion of lost funds.” However, the identity of the scammer is still unclear and police officers assumed they could be located abroad.

Stephen Carr – a resident of Meaford, Ontario – is another Canadian who fell victim to a similar scheme recently. He parted with his entire life savings of approximately $500,000 after being duped into a crypto scam on YouTube.

Unlike the aforementioned couple, the police were unable to return his money, forcing Carr to put his house up for sale so he could reorganize his life.

How to avoid crypto scams

More investigators and professionals go the public needed guidance after the scheme was revealed. Detective Sean Vandecamp said such methods are quite popular and urged people to be very careful when participating in online investments.

“The funds are not likely to be recovered via cryptocurrency, which is why this is such a great success story,” he added.

Andreas Park – professor of finance at the University of Toronto – also gave his two cents, arguing that crypto users are particularly vulnerable:

“With this great freedom that you have comes the responsibility — and the problem — that if you send it to the wrong person, it’s just gone.”

Vanessa Iafolla — a fraud prevention consultant and instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University — warned individuals unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies to avoid offers involving the asset class.