Toronto man loses $50,000 to cryptocurrency investment scam

A Toronto man says he is devastated after losing $50,000 trying to invest in cryptocurrency.

The man, to whom CTV News Toronto has granted anonymity and is calling John, said he started investing in cryptocurrency after connecting with someone on social media – at first, with a few hundred dollars, but then thousands more.

He said the detailed reports he received indicated he had more than doubled his investments, but when he attempted to take money out of the non-registered platform, the company went silent and refused to answer his calls and emails.

“I was trying to find a better way for my money to grow because I wasn't happy with what I was getting,” John said, adding “that money was meant for me, my family, to pay for bills, to pay for a renovation that we wanted to do, to be left to my kids.”

The cryptocurrency market has lost more than a trillion dollars in value this year, but the OPP has issued a warning saying that some investors may see now as a good time to get into the market.

"We are seeing a lot of bad actors taking advantage of cryptocurrencies,” Detective Constable John Armit with the Anti-Rackets Branch of the Ontario Province Police (OPP) said.

The OPP said even as cryptocurrency goes through turbulent times, fraud is a major problem in the industry with many victims lured onto fake trading platforms.

"The websites are actually very legitimate looking and when you reach out to the people through the website you're actually speaking with the fraudsters themselves," Armit said.

Armit said the average victim on cases he’s dealt with have lost about $150,000.

"It's absolutely devastating. We are seeing people have to go to food banks, move in with other family members and sell properties, it's devastating for them,” he said.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said that Canadians lost $163.9 million to investment scams last year and that investors should be careful buying cryptocurrency.

"In this kind of environment, you want consumers to go to trusted exchanges" James Moore , chief anti-laundering officer (CAMLO) with Binance Canada said in an interview.

Moore said the company is working with the OPP’s cybercrime investigators and found that most scams happen when people get social media invites to invest in crypto.

"If you’re getting unsolicited messages and you don't recognize who they are from, especially if it pertains to an investment, do not click on it and do not respond to it,” he said.