A pensioner has reported he was scammed out of over €67,500 in an online cryptocurrency scam.

Nicosia police are investigating after the 73-year-old man complained that in June he was contacted through social media app by an unknown person claiming to be employed in an investment company and persuaded him to participate in various investments with allegedly zero risk.

A second person then contacted the man, who instructed him to invest the sum of €67,750 to purchase cryptocurrency.

But, when the complainant asked to receive the profits from his investment, he was asked to pay additional money, allegedly to pay taxes. This is when the 73-year-old suspected it was likely to be a fraud and requested his initial capital back.

Since then, the persons have not responded to his calls.