Sask. residents lost $3.4 million in cryptocurrency frauds this year: RCMP

The Saskatchewan RCMP say scammers have ripped off residents of the province for more than $3.4 million in cryptocurrency since the start of 2024.

“Between January 1 and July 31, 2024, Saskatchewan RCMP had investigated 116 files involving cryptocurrency fraud, and in total, victims had reported more than $3,400,000 in cryptocurrency fraud losses,” the Saskatchewan RCMP said in a statement.

In one recent case, from August 26, the RCMP said officers in Warman were alerted about cryptocurrency fraud.

“An employee at the business received a suspicious phone call where the caller misrepresented themself as the employee’s senior management,” the Mounties explained.

“The caller said there was an urgent package that needed to be paid for and payment could be made by depositing a sum of money at a nearby cryptocurrency ATM.”

Anyone who receives such a call was advised to hang up immediately, and to not provide the caller with any information or follow through with their requests.

The RCMP said warning signs for a cryptocurrency scam include offers of investment opportunities with higher-than-normal returns, unsolicited phone, email or social media investment offers, pressure to send money urgently, suspicious messages from an otherwise trusted source, contact pages that include illegitimate information, and offers of cryptocurrency investments that aren’t registered with provincial or national securities regulators.

There are several types of scams that the RCMP advised residents to watch out for.

Those include employer scams, where a fraudster imitates someone’s boss and asks them to take money from a business and deposit it in a cryptocurrency ATM. The RCMP also warned about grandparent scams, where a scammer pretends to be a close relative of an often-elderly victim and asks for immediate financial help, and investment fraud, which involves scammers luring a victim using investment opportunities for cryptocurrency, often using “popular, recognizable names of celebrities or people well known to the public.”

“If you or a family member have been contacted by a scammer, report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre — even if you didn’t give them any money,” the Mounties advised.

“If you or a family member did lose money as a result of fraud, please contact your local police as well as the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Contact your local RCMP detachment by dialing 310-RCMP.”