Online lottery and cryptocurrency scams are costing millions

There isn’t any scarcity of fraudsters attempting to half individuals from their cash, and the BC Lottery Company (BCLC) and Surrey police have issued warnings about two refined scams which can be at the moment doing the rounds.

BCLC says that there are scams circulating on-line that imitate B.C. casinos and deceive people into offering their monetary particulars on illegitimate web sites. The scams are performed via fraudulent posts and commercials on social media platforms corresponding to Fb and Instagram.

These posts and commercials are extremely misleading, and exploit the logos, names, and exterior photographs of native B.C. casinos. They provide gamers unique bonuses and promotions in the event that they register with their web site or cellular software, however BCLC says that none of those websites are related to casinos in B.C. or the lottery company.

BCLC and its on line casino companions are actively working to have the posts eliminated, however British Columbians have to be cautious in relation to these predatory and complicated scams. BCLC encourages people to be on alert when an internet site or app asks for private or monetary data; BCLC’s verified web sites and apps won’t ever ask on your social insurance coverage quantity (SIN), banking data, or bank card particulars on-line to say a prize from a B.C. on line casino. People can look out for different pink flags, such because the suggestion of charges or taxes to be paid on a prize. In Canada, there are not any charges or taxes on prizes gained.

Surrey police have additionally issued a warning about cryptocurrency fraud. In 2023, Surrey RCMP acquired 229 reviews of fraud involving cryptocurrency, with whole losses of over $12,000,000 to Surrey residents alone.

Nearly all of these cryptocurrency frauds had been associated to funding scams. Victims are launched to cryptocurrency-related investments by way of social media, telephone calls, on-line commercials, and on-line courting platforms. Utilizing spoofed web sites and cellular functions with pretend trades and income, victims are inspired to take a position cash on the investing platform. When the sufferer makes an attempt to withdraw their investments, they’re usually requested for more cash for taxes and different charges.

Finally the scammer stops speaking with the sufferer, who finds they’ve been defrauded of all the cash they believed they had been investing.

Within the first two months of 2024 alone, Surrey RCMP have acquired 50 reviews of fraud involving cryptocurrency, with losses of over $3,200,000. Whereas this explicit rip-off performs on most individuals’s ignorance of what cryptocurrencies (corresponding to Bitcoin) are, and the way they work, most scams contain a promise of straightforward cash for little or no effort. If one thing seems too good to be true, it in all probability is.

Web sites, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers are sometimes spoofed. Train warning and at all times take an in depth take a look at spelling and for variations of the professional enterprise names and web sites. You probably have supplied private data, corresponding to your driver’s licence, passport, or SIN, monitor your credit score report for indicators of id theft, and examine for any unauthorized credit score checks or functions. You probably have supplied your bank card quantity, examine your assertion for unauthorized transactions.

If you’re the sufferer of a fraud, go to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) at https://bit.ly/3seRuSA. In 2023 the centre processed 62,365 reviews of fraud involving 41,111 victims and a complete of $554 million misplaced to fraud. Sadly, cash misplaced to fraud is seldom recovered; from 2021 to 2023 the CAFC was solely in a position to get better $6,693,830 on behalf of people that had been scammed.