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Cryptocurrency scamStripped of 6000 francs on an online trading platform
A Morgienne was recently the victim of a cryptocurrency scam. The multiple transfers with no return on investment alerted him.
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- Francisco Carvalho da Costa
The OFS counts 17,232 cases of digital fraud during the year 2021.
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“Stripped of 6,000 francs, I had a better start to the year…”, laments Sara*, recently the victim of a cryptocurrency scam. In November 2022, while scrolling on her Facebook news feed, she clicked on an link that redirected her to an online trading platform. Intrigued, she makes a first payment of 250 euros when she registers. It was the first transfer of a long series. In the end, she will never see her money once more. (read box)
She is not the only one to have fallen into the trap. The testimonies denouncing the deception are numerous on the Internet.
The sums defrauded can reach several thousand francs per victim.
‘No shame in being a victim’
“These fraudulent advertisements are multiplying at high speed on the Internet,” laments Steven Meyer, director at Zendata, a company specializing in cybersecurity. The expert recommends sustained research before investing online. “Has this platform been around for a long time? Are the comments on the Internet positive?, he lists. You have to be doubly vigilant, because these scammers do “social engineering”, they know how to manipulate people to extract money from them”, indicates the expert.
According to him, one should not be ashamed to speak regarding it, because one can quickly enter a vicious circle. And this phenomenon would affect the elderly more easily: “Some people struggle with technology and represent easy prey for these scammers.”
As a reminder, the Federal Statistical Office counted 17,232 cases of fraud with a digital modus operandi in 2021.
A well-crafted modus operandi
A few days following registering, victims are contacted by a “professional” who explains how their money will be placed in the platform. A relationship of trust is created following several days of exchanges by FaceTime messages and phone calls.
The executioner then asks his victim to pay more and more money in order to increase the gains generated by the trading. At the time of recovering his winnings, a final transfer of 3,000 francs is required in order to pay “commission costs”. After which, radio silence, the number is no longer assigned.