Crypto investment scams that start with a charming stranger
Someone you met online shows you their trading profits and offers to teach you. The platform is fake and your money is gone the moment you send it.
How it works
It often starts with a wrong-number text or a social media message that turns into weeks of chatting. Eventually they mention how well their crypto investments are doing and offer to help you start small. The trading site shows your balance growing, so you invest more. When you try to withdraw, there are sudden fees, taxes, and then silence. Ontarians lost about 23 million dollars to this in just nine months. Police call it pig butchering because victims are fattened up before the slaughter.
What to do
- Treat any investment offer from someone you only know online as a scam. There are no exceptions that matter.
- Never install trading apps or send crypto at a stranger's direction.
- If you have already sent money, stop sending more, even to "unlock" your balance. That is part of the scam. Report to police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
Sources
If this has already happened to you, our scam recovery visit can lock down your accounts and devices. And if you are just not sure whether something is a scam, asking us is always free.