A survey discovered that approximately one-third of Canadians who own cryptocurrencies have reported falling victim to cryptocurrency-related scams. To address this issue, the Canadian police in Calgary, Alberta, have issued a targeted caution to the public, advising them to exercise caution regarding scams associated with employment offers, romantic relationships, and other fraudulent activities related to digital currencies. These scams have led to losses exceeding $22.5 million in the current year.
Officials in Alberta revealed on Monday that their residents have reported encountering 340 cryptocurrency scams since the beginning of the year. This number has increased from 2022, when residents lost a comparatively smaller sum of $14 million across 321 reported scams throughout the entire year. The police suspect that even these figures represent an underreporting of the problem.
The Calgary Police commented that, while the majority of digital assets transactions are legitimate, the unregulated nature of the crypto market has made it an attractive tool for scammers involved in various fraudulent activities.
Calgary, once known as the heart of Canada’s oil industry, was ranked as the third most livable city in the world during the summer in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual ranking of livable cities.
The most frequently reported scams involve investment schemes, where scammers promise victims significant profits in exchange for an upfront payment. The police emphasized that genuine entities would not demand full payment upfront.
An illustrative example of such a scam is the well-known case of Michael Saylor phishing videos, where imposters posing as the Bitcoin billionaire guarantee to double the victim’s Bitcoin holdings in exchange for transferring their BTC to the scammer’s wallet. In January 2022, a Bitcoin user sent $1.1 million in BTC to one of these scam addresses.
Crypto Scams Continues
Furthermore, the police cautioned the public against individuals on the internet who promise substantial returns in the digital asset markets. They also warned against individuals on social media and online dating apps discussing cryptocurrency investments, as such messages are likely to be scams. According to Chainalysis, scams remain a prevalent category of cryptocurrency-related crimes, including hacks, darknet markets, and ransomware attacks. Nevertheless, the firm’s mid-year update for 2023 suggests that global crypto crime has decreased since the previous year, a trend not observed in the case of Calgary.
In June, a survey conducted by Toronto Metropolitan University involving 2,000 Canadians revealed that one-third of digital asset owners in Canada have been targeted by cryptocurrency scams.
Aside from scams, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) issued a warning in July concerning instances in which criminals stole cryptocurrencies directly from individuals’ homes by impersonating delivery personnel or figures of authority.