Canadian Resident Falls Victim to Cryptocurrency Scam Chain, Scammers Impersonate Royal Canadian Mounted Police for Secondary Fraud

Odaily News: A resident of Nanaimo, Canada, fell victim to a scam after depositing approximately CAD 5,000 (around USD 3,600) via a cryptocurrency ATM in late last year, prompted by a text message promoting a remote stock trading job. Earlier this year, the victim encountered an online message disguised as an RCMP announcement, encouraging fraud victims to file a report. After submitting a form, an individual claiming to be a lawyer contacted them, stating that two cryptocurrency accounts linked to the victim had been found and could help recover approximately USD 60,000 in so-called profits.

Gary O'Brien, Media Relations Officer for the Nanaimo RCMP, stated that the RCMP does not contact individuals regarding discovered cryptocurrency accounts, does not partner with private companies to recover lost funds, and does not request any form of payment to investigate fraud.

Andy Zhou, Co-founder and CEO of blockchain security firm BlockSec, explained that this type of tactic is known as a "fake recovery service scam" and exhibits systematic characteristics. Scammers typically possess victim information collected from the initial scam, and organized fraud rings circulate lists of victims who have previously made payments, making them targets for secondary scams. Impersonating law enforcement agencies is effective because it exploits the psychological mechanism of "authority bias." Canadian police have been providing cryptocurrency investigation training since 2022.