Canadian regulator: Fraudsters stole about $710,000 in cryptocurrencies from Manitoba residents

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The Canadian Province of Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC) has warned of a sharp increase in the number of fraudulent sites for crypto investments.

MSC Senior Investigator Jason Roysaid that recently the department has received more than 60 complaints from residents of the province, who lost from $320 to $206,000 when investing in digital assets. The total loss amounted to about $710,000.

MSC Representative Ainsley CunninghamCunningham recognized that there are legitimate crypto companies that open up new opportunities for investors. Therefore, attackers tend to fake their sites and act on their behalf. Most of the scammers are located abroad, but they claim that they keep offices in Canada. The scammers seek out potential victims on social media by posting fake news or false claims that their proposal has received celebrity endorsements.

First, scammers encourage investors to investa small amount of money, about $350, in cryptocurrencies. Seeing the accrual of profits in their personal account on a fake platform, investors invest even more money. Later, however, when users want to withdraw their funds, the criminals either ignore withdrawal requests or tell victims that more money needs to be deposited to unlock the funds.

Canadian regulators are becoming moretough on the crypto industry. In February, the Canadian Securities Administrators Association (CSA) banned the trading of algorithmic stablecoins and also introduced new rules for virtual asset service providers (VASPs).