'Money we don't have to spare': Spoofed website causes Toronto man to lose $100K

A Toronto man says he lost $100,000 in a matter of minutes after falling victim to a website spoof scam.

“This to me was so shocking that assets could be lost so quickly,” Art, who asked that we only use his first name, told CTV News Toronto.

In 2021, Art said he received a family inheritance and decided to invest it in cryptocurrencies.

He used the company Kraken, Art said, and after he invested the money, he left it alone for two years.

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In 2023, Art said he decided to sign into his account by searching Kraken on Google.

"I essentially did a Google search and looked for Kraken. It was the first one to come up and it was branded with the same colours,” Art said.

The website he clicked on was actually a spoofed fake Kraken website. Once he entered his sign-in information, he said his account was drained within minutes.

"In six minutes, all the money was taken out of my account. All the crypto assets were sent to a wallet I had never used before,” Art said.

He said $100,000 was stolen from his account.

While they could not speak specifically on Art's account, a Kraken spokesperson told CTV News Toronto they were sorry to hear what happened to Art, adding they urge clients to "be extremely careful in what they click and ensure they are only utilizing Kraken.com."

"At Kraken we take client security extremely seriously and work tirelessly to safeguard client accounts and educate them about common practices by scammers to get confidential information," the spokesperson said."

"This includes everything from proactive education about how to verify that they are in direct contact with Kraken to emailing clients anytime their account is accessed from a new device, information is changed, or a new wallet is connected to their account."

David Milosevic, a lawyer with Milosevic & Associates, said his firm represents clients who are trying to recover funds from investments that have gone bad, but when it comes to crypto fraud, it’s almost impossible to recover stolen funds.

“If it matches that usual profile (of a crypto scam) your chances of recovery are zero," Milosevic said.

There are many different types of crypto investment scams, Milosevic said. Some involve romance scams, fraudulent investment advice and fake websites.

“In an average week in my small firm, I get maybe 40 people a week telling me they have been defrauded in some type of crypto scam," Milosevic said.

In Art's case, the RCMP determined his money was transferred out of the country and is untraceable.

Art said losing $100,000 has been devastating for his family.

“This is money we don't have to spare," Art said. "I have three kids to put through college and this has been quite disruptive in the family."