Crypto fraud victim scammed out of $120K: St. Thomas police

Victim defrauded $120K in crypto scam A St. Thomas resident lost $120,000 in a months-long cryptocurrency scam. CTV's Carlyle Fiset explains what happened.

St. Thomas police are investigating a crypto currency scam, which they said defrauded a local resident of $120,000.

Police said the victim had believed they were investing with a legitimate crypto exchange website.

The victim transferred multiple sums of money through a person police said was posing as a broker back in April. Over the course of four months, the victim believed their investments were growing.

However, when the victim tried to withdraw their profits earlier in August, police said they were unable to do so.

“Do your research,” said St. Thomas Police Service Communications Officer Samantha Wakefield. “Even if the company appears to be a trusted source, dig deeper.”

Wakefield said crypto scams tend to include higher sums of money than other types of fraud, and victims’ personal information and data could also be at risk.

“Check with the Canadian Fraud Agency to ensure and verify that the company you want to deal with is legit,” Wakefield said.