Two arrested after pensioner scammed out of six-figure crypto nest egg
The latest in a long line of fraud stings worth billions each year
Two men are in police custody after being arrested in connection with a July cryptocurrency fraud involving a man in his seventies.
The case was brought to Police Scotland in July 2024 after a 75-year-old from Aberdeen lost "a six-figure sum" worth of cryptocurrency.
Officers from Police Scotland, assisted by England's West Midlands and South Yorkshire Police, arrested two men aged 54 and 36 in Coventry and Mexborough respectively on Tuesday, February 18.
Police Scotland said both men were charged with crypto fraud offenses and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal, a public prosecutor in Scotland.
"This operation demonstrates our commitment to ensuring people are protected from fraud," said David Williamson, detective sergeant at Police Scotland. "We will do everything in our power to bring those responsible to justice. I would also encourage members of the public to be mindful of activity which appears fraudulent and to report this to police."
The Register asked the relevant forces for additional information about the case, including how the cryptocurrency was fraudulently lost, but neither provided any.
Older people are often targeted by scammers of all flavors, and cases involving the theft of large sums are all too common.
Just a few months prior to the case in question, five individuals were arrested and charged after another six-figure sum – not in cryptocurrency – was stolen from a different elderly man, also in Aberdeen.
Police said the scam involved impersonating the fraud department of the victim's bank, a common tactic that financial institutions routinely warn customers about.
- Indian authorities seize loot from collapsed BitConnect crypto scam
- US accuses Canadian math prodigy of $65M crypto scheme
- Pastor's divine 'dream' crypto scheme indicted by Uncle Sam
- Five Scattered Spider suspects indicted for phishing spree and crypto heists
Over in the US, Feds said last year that crypto scams are more costly to citizens than ransomware. They warned at the time that elderly people are often tricked into installing remote access software giving the scammers full control over the victim's finances. Other scams dupe unwitting investors into moving funds to "government agencies" for "safekeeping."
The FBI received more than 69,000 related complaints in 2023, the Feds said in September, the majority of which come from those aged 60 and over.
Such scams raked in $5.6 billion for cybercriminals in 2023, it added – a 45 percent year-on-year increase.
The FBI said another common tactic is to simply sell fake investment products. Liquidity mining scams, fake forex investments, and property schemes are all popular routes scammers take.
And then there are of course the brutal outliers like Remy St Felix, who chose not to hide behind a keyboard, instead stealing cryptocurrency from elderly people with unconscionable violence. ®