Cyprus police warn public after crypto investor loses $58K to advance fee fraud

Cyprus authorities have urged investors to be cautious after a local lost $58,000 in a cryptocurrency scam that promised lucrative returns.

According to a Knews report, the Limassol Criminal Investigation Department is currently investigating a fake crypto trading platform that scammed a 50-year-old man.

Notably, the victim came across the phony website in December. At first glance, the platform appeared legitimate and offered investment opportunities resembling a regular cryptocurrency trading site, complete with detailed charts, interactive dashboards, and profit-tracking tools.

Convinced by the professional appearance of the platform and the promise of high returns, the man invested a total of $58,000 across multiple transactions, believing he was accumulating gains.

A manipulated dashboard, which is a common tool that scammers use to trick victims into believing their investments are growing, kept showing his profits going up, which made it all seem real.

However, when the victim tried to cash in these profits, the scammers refused to release the funds, claiming additional fees or deposits were required to “unlock” his earnings.

This tactic, known as advance fee fraud, is commonly used in crypto scams where victims are pressured to pay extra money under false pretenses, only to find their funds remain inaccessible.

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The Financial Crime Investigation Bureau, a specialized agency tasked with combating financial fraud and cybercrime, advised against sharing sensitive financial and personal details and urged investors to “only invest with recognized, licensed financial institutions.”

Further, the bureau added that investors should always check the credibility of any advisor or platform they’re dealing with.

Similar warnings were issued by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions on multiple occasions throughout 2024.

The agency highlighted an incident in June where another victim of advance fee fraud lost $310,000 worth of crypto to a fake digital asset trading platform dubbed Ethfinance while also issuing warnings against two other platforms that ran similar schemes.

The following month, a more sophisticated scam was uncovered where scammers offered victims bogus loans to participate in crypto investment schemes with promises that profits from their trading accounts would cover the repayments.

However, victims were forced to repay the loans out of their own pockets because their profits were locked and remained completely inaccessible on the platform.

Read more: Bitcoin’s treble allows US gov to pay back crypto fraud victims

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