Joseph became a victim of a scam after he started communicating on Facebook with a person he did not know and whom he had never met. This person started showing a certain interest in him and eventually persuaded him to start investing in crypto-assets under her guidance. This case occurred during the years 2022 and 2023.
The person with whom Joseph was communicating was not licensed to provide investment advice and did not represent any entity licensed by a financial services regulatory authority.
The fraudster gained Joseph’s trust and interest through various messages and communications that were sent to the victim on a regular basis over messaging apps.
Joseph was instructed to first make various payments from his bank account to a licensed crypto service provider where his money was then converted into crypto-assets. Under the continued instructions of the fraudster, the victim subsequently himself transferred the crypto-assets to external wallets which he thought would be then invested in his own crypto-asset trading account. These payments and communications occurred over a lengthy period of time, of around seven months, with the fraudster continuously providing step-by-step instructions for Joseph to follow. Joseph followed the instructions provided not only during the first step involving the opening of an account in crypto-assets, but also for the requested subsequent payments and transactions.
Joseph transferred his funds as he thought these were going to be invested in crypto-assets. The fraudsters who enticed and guided him to invest, however, stole all of his transferred funds.
Joseph was deceived into thinking that he was earning substantial profits from the purported fictitious transactions that the fraudsters had shown him on their fake trading platform.
In order to withdraw his funds and the substantial fictitious profits he was told that he had made, Joseph was told that he had to first make various payments and settle a number of charges. He was, for example, requested to undertake a substantial payment to unblock his account which he was told had now been frozen. These payment requests were, however, just attempts made by the fraudsters to try and extract more money from him.
Joseph believed so much that he was in a romantic relationship that he even travelled overseas to meet with his purported friend that he thought was helping him making the huge profits in crypto-assets.
After various excuses Joseph was eventually blocked from contacting his alleged friend at which stage, he realised that this was all part of a scam. He incurred losses of over €65,000.
Warning signs and red flags:
- Contact with claimed adviser made from social media.
- The person offering guidance or advice was not a licensed person.
- Communications through electronic devices only, with no in-person meetings.
- Consumer urged to invest quickly or lose opportunities for easy profits.
- Frequent and ongoing requests for additional funds to be invested.
- Indications of easy substantial profits occurring over a short period of time.
- Urgent request for payments to access or withdraw your funds.
Disclaimer: This account is based on a real-life case investigated by the authorities. While the events and figures described are factual, names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.