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Three Ontario Men Lose $373,000 in Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud
Three Ontario men have reported losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a cryptocurrency investment scam, including a Brampton man who lost $226,000.
“I started with $1,200 and within two weeks I was up to about $3,000,” Mohammad Haque said.
Haque told CTV News Toronto that he came across a video on social media that appeared to feature Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explaining how Canadians could make good money investing in cryptocurrencies.
However, the video he saw was a deepfake and had been manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI).
“Justin Trudeau and the finance minister have offered key opportunities to invest a little bit and make a lot of money,” Haque said. “At the last minute, I asked my daughter, and she said, ‘Dad, this is a scam. You’re losing all your money.'”
While Haque thought he had accumulated $424,775 in his account, he discovered it was empty and that he had been scammed out of $226,000.
Darrell Budnick of Mississauga had a similar experience when he watched a video claiming he could make money with cryptocurrency. While his investments appeared to be rising, when he tried to withdraw his funds, he was unable to.
“Boy, I was scammed good and bad,” Budnick said.
They stole $130,000 from him.
“I’m panicking right now. I have a heart condition that’s getting worse. It hurts. It’s scary. I thought I was safe, and now I’m not,” Budnick said.
Meanwhile, Giovanni Pugliano of Hamilton stumbled upon a deepfake video on YouTube in which Elon Musk claimed he could start investing in cryptocurrencies with just a few hundred dollars and eventually become rich.
“I ended up investing a lot more than I expected and all of a sudden I was broke,” Pugliano told CTV News Toronto, who said his losses totaled $17,000.
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, between January 1 and June 30 of this year, $148 million in fraudulent investment losses were reported across the county. Most of the investment fraud involved cryptocurrencies.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have issued a public warning about the scam, saying that investors are being roped in in record numbers and that victims are losing their homes and life savings.
“We’re seeing suicides. We’re seeing seniors being forced to move in with their kids, and we’re seeing more people lined up at soup kitchens,” said Acting Detective Sergeant John Armit of the OPP’s racketeering unit.
The OPP also said that Ontarians interested in investing in cryptocurrencies can educate themselves through Ontario Securities Commission website.
According to the OPP, there are also secure cryptocurrency trading platforms who have been authorized by Canadian securities administrators to do business with Canadians.
As for the three victims who contacted CTV News Toronto, they wanted to share their story to warn others.
“I have ruined my life and my family’s life,” Haque said, adding, “I am in a dangerous situation. I don’t know how to recover from this, but I am trying.”
When people get scammed, they are often approached by companies claiming to be able to get their investments back for a fee. However, this is also a scam run by the same criminals who took the victims’ money in the first place.