A group in Gold Coast, Australia got caught by police for scamming $2.7 million in cryptocurrency investment. Local police charged the criminal group for money laundering and fraud on Thursday after investigation.
More than 100 Australians were duped by this five-member group who posed as multiple cryptocurrency investment firms. The scammers approached potential investors through cold calls and used legitimate-looking websites to trick them into investing.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the country lost almost half a billion dollars to scammers in 2018. Officials who investigated the scam said that most of the victims were older people who had limited knowledge about the cryptocurrency. Victims invested in the companies named “Exmount Holdings Group,” “The Quid Pro Quo Foundation,” “The Atlas Group,” which all provided a trial investment. Scammers promised a generous return on the investments. Once people invested, they were given log-in details to watch their investments grow, but when they tried to withdraw funds, their accounts were nil. All attempts made by victims to contact the firms were unsuccessful.
Police said that there might be more victims out there who haven’t reported the scam which makes the value of scammed money more than $3 million. Police also advised people to be wary of those scammers and be safe with their investments.
Three men and two women who are charged with the scam will appear before the Southport Magistrates Court on 9 August, 22 August, and 5 November. Australia has seen an increase of 34% in investment frauds compared to last year. In 2018, more than 378,000 people reported scams to Australian cybercrime and other government agencies.
