Man scammed out of more than €30,000

Police in Limassol are investigating a case of potential online fraud and embezzlement following a complaint from a 42-year-old man on Monday who tried to invest more than €30,000 in cryptocurrency.

According to the man, he entered an online cryptocurrency platform in June and was contacted by an unknown individual who convinced him “to invest in cryptocurrencies to earn big profits”.

The man says he made eight transfer transactions from his bank account to the online platform between June and August totalling €20,563 in the belief he was purchasing cryptocurrency.

He said he later wished to withdraw his money but was told he would first have to pay more money before getting his money back. He said he was “convinced” by the individual to make four more transfers totalling €11,296 to the cryptocurrency platform.

Having not received anything in return, he realised the system was a scam and contacted the police.