Limassol man loses €33,000 in crypto scam

Police on Saturday said that yet another person, a 48-year-old man from Limassol, has fallen victim to an online crypto scam, losing €33,000 in the process.

According to the police, the man filed a report with the Limassol crime investigation department in July of this year.

In the report, the man said that he received a message online from an unknown person claiming that they were involved with cryptocurrency investment and convinced him of the purported legitimacy of the endeavour.

When the 48-year-old expressed interest in investing, the unknown person sent him a link to a page, where he was required to create an account.

Between August 21 and August 27, the 48-year-old used a cryptocurrency exchange that he had already been using prior to this, to transfer more than €21,000 to the newly-created account.

On August 28, the Limassol resident tried to withdraw money from this new account but his request was blocked by this new site and he was asked to then transfer a further €12,000, purportedly as a commission fee, before a withdrawal could be approved.

After paying this amount, the man was again blocked from withdrawing any money and was again asked to pay an additional amount of €5,000, something which made him think that the entire thing was a scam.

The man tried to once communicate with the person who originally sent him the message to no avail.

In light of this new incident, police have once again urged the public to be extremely careful when receiving suspicious messages or requests and to seek confirmation of their validity in other ways.

If they have already acquiesced to any anonymous requests, they are then advised to change all of their passwords to their accounts.

Finally, if they become aware of anything suspicious, they are urged to inform the police.

Tips regarding scams related to investments in cryptocurrencies can be found here: https://cyberalert.cy/tips/apates-mesw-diadiktuou/apates-sxetizomenes-me-ependuseis_54