A Guelph, Ontario, man reportedly lost large sums of money to a cryptocurrency scam after meeting someone who pretended to be his long-lost friend.
Citing information from Guelph Police Service spokesman Scott Tracy, CBC reported that the scheme began in an online chat forum where the victim communicated with someone he believed to be someone from his childhood in China.
The two began talking in a public forum in July. By September, the conversation had moved to private chat, and the alleged childhood friend was able to lure the victim into making investments in cryptocurrencies.
Tracy He says From mid-September to the end of November, the man sent nearly $188,000 to the scammer.
“The victim began making transfers to this person, believing he was sending the transfers for the purposes of purchasing cryptocurrency.”
The unnamed victim contacted police this week, fearing he had been scammed after the friend demanded more money, specifically a 30% verification fee.
But police say there is little chance of recovering the lost money since the fraudster resides abroad. In this case, the victim believes that the perpetrator is somewhere in Asia.
Tracy says,
“This is obviously very difficult for us to investigate, and the victim has been told that it is almost impossible to recover the lost money.
That’s why we try to be as proactive as possible about letting people know that this is happening and encouraging them not to fall victim and to be aware of some of the warning signs.
Tracy says people should always ask questions when talking to someone online about cryptocurrencies.
“Popular scams are always changing to try to overcome people’s skepticism. I believe we have to adjust our response and encourage the public to adjust their response to the new techniques scammers are using.
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