The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is out with a warning after two people recently fell prey to cryptocurrency scams.
The two victims — a 55-year-old woman and an 82-year-old man — lost a total of $1.3 million in two unrelated incidents.
On Dec. 24, the woman reported that she had met someone she believed was an investor who promised high returns if she contributed to an investment pool.
“Over several months, the victim and suspect primarily communicated through WhatsApp and WeChat,” the VPD said.
“The victim trusted the suspect and believed she was contributing money to a legitimate investment. However, after contributing $565,000 through several fake investments that occurred over several months, the suspect stopped all communication and disappeared.”
In the second case, the man reported on Jan. 10 that he had responded to an online ad with a picture of Prime Minister Mark Carney promoting an investment in crypto.
“The victim believed the advertisement was real and began communicating through the encrypted app Telegram,” police said.
“He invested $800,000 over six months through wire transfer to a Canadian cryptocurrency exchange before realizing he’d been defrauded.”
Const. Megan Lui says cryptocurrency crimes are especially difficult to solve because scammers prey on people’s vulnerabilities and trust.
“The likelihood of recovering someone’s money after they’ve been scammed this way is very low.”
The VPD says it had a total of $27M in frauds reported last year.
Anyone who believes they may have fallen victim to a cryptocurrency scam is asked to reach out to the VPD.
“We want victims to come forward and report these incidents to police right away, so we can conduct timely investigations,” Lui said.
“We also want people to know that cryptocurrency scams have been increasing, so they have steps to prevent themselves and their loved ones from being victimized.”