Ireland’s national police force has issued a warning highlighting that nearly half of all reported investment fraud cases involve cryptocurrencies.

According to a recent report, 44% of all investment fraud incidents in Ireland between January 2020 and August 2024 involved Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Most of these cases involved scammers posing as investment managers, deceiving victims by cloning webpages and targeting them through online and social media advertisements.

Scammers have managed to steal over €75 million (roughly $83 million) from more than 1,117 victims during this period, with €13.5 million stolen so far in 2024. Notably, 2023 saw the highest losses, with €28 million stolen, surpassing the combined total for 2021 and 2022.

One notable incident detailed in the report involved a victim who encountered an advertisement on a social media platform promoting an investment opportunity in a mobile app-based trading platform. After signing up, the scammers contacted the victim and convinced him to transfer €45,000 (approximately $50,000).

Subsequently, the scammers informed the victim that their investments had supposedly generated over €727,000 (approximately $808,620) in profits, allegedly held in USDC stablecoin within an Ethereum-based Atomic Wallet. However, when the victim attempted to withdraw the funds, they were asked to pay an additional $40,000 in “dirty tax” to gain access to the funds.

A dirty tax involves scammers falsely claiming that a victim must pay a fee or tax to access funds or profits.

This tactic is typical in investment fraud cases. For example, scammers often trick victims into dubious crypto trading-related investments but freeze their accounts when they try to cash out their profits, demanding additional funds.

Michael Cryan, Detective Superintendent of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau, has cautioned that scammers usually target “ordinary, decent people” and urged caution when transferring money internationally.

“The fraudsters involved in fraudulent investment schemes will sound convincing and claim to have insider knowledge but they are career criminals that are following a well-rehearsed script.” – Michael Cryan, Detective Superintendent of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau

Crypto investment scams have become increasingly prevalent across various regions, with fraudsters enticing victims with promises of substantial returns. One of the largest crackdowns in recent times involved the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, which took down 615 websites linked to crypto investment scams.

Before that, Australia’s competition regulator took legal action over a surge in advertisements on social media platforms promoting crypto scams.

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