Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud

The Essex County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is warning residents about cryptocurrency investment frauds. A resident from Leamington recently lost over $25,000 to a cryptocurrency investment fraud.

Investment scam reports received by the OPP and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) include initial coin offerings, Ponzi schemes, franchise opportunities, futures trading, multi-level marketing opportunities, mortgage investment opportunities and pump and dump schemes. In most of these cases, the investment opportunities offer higher than normal, or true monetary, returns which often result in investors losing most, or all, of their money.

Warning Signs

Investment opportunities with higher than normal returns.
Unsolicited telephone, email or social media investment offers.
Displays of urgency so you don’t miss out.
An individual met on a dating or social media website who quickly attempts to convince you to invest into cryptocurrency.
A friend tells you about a cryptocurrency investment opportunity via social media or email.
Telephone calls from crypto investment companies.
Fraudulent ads posted on the internet or social media.
Request to transfer your crypto investment to an alternate crypto address.

Protect yourself

Don't take any information at face value. Investigate the claims being made around any investment, especially if they seem too good to be true or promise overnight windfalls.
Don't trust anyone—government officials, public figures, strangers—who contacts you directly asking for payments in cryptocurrency or offering you an "investment opportunity."
Never share your private key or the seed phrase to your cryptocurrency wallet with anyone.
Enable two-factor authentication whenever possible.
Double and triple-check website URLs. Scammers attempting a phishing scam will copy the URL of legitimate sites and swap letters and numbers

Reject any offer that requires an up-front fee no matter what, but especially if that fee has to be paid in cryptocurrency.

If you feel you were a victim of an investment scam please report it to your local OPP.