VicPD have announced a recent recovery of approximately $80,000 in cryptocurrency funds that were stolen from an 84-year-old Victoria resident.
Police say the funds were coerced from the victim in a complex tech-support scam.
According to VicPD, this case was the first time newly enacted legislation regarding digital asset seizure has been utilized in BC.
The victim contacted police in December of last year after discovering unauthorized transfers from his crypto accounts.
Police say their investigation revealed he had been targeted by a sophisticated and complex tech-support scam.
Scammers were able to access his accounts because, while experiencing technical issues with his cell phone, the victim used a voice assistant to locate the phone number for TELUS Tech Support and called them.
The scammer who answered claimed to be with TELUS, and was able to gain remote access to the victim’s phone under the guise of providing assistance.
Though the scammer was able to resolve the issue, they were also able to access the victim’s accounts.
Because of this, the victim discovered $110,000 had been fraudulently transferred from his accounts.
VicPD says the funds were traced through several accounts on a cryptocurrency exchange, and a suspect residing in South Africa was identified.
Using newly enacted federal legislation, a special warrant was obtained allowing VicPD to freeze the compromised cryptocurrency accounts and seize a significant portion of the funds.
These funds have since been returned to the victim.
“We are proud to be the first police agency in BC to utilize this new legislation, demonstrating our commitment to staying ahead of emerging cybercrime trends and protecting our community,” said Sergeant Simon de Wit, Supervisor of the Cyber Crime Unit.
“This legislation provides us with a crucial tool to pursue and recover stolen digital assets and aids us in our fight against these increasingly sophisticated scams.”
VicPD urges the public that time is of the essence when dealing with cryptocurrency fraud and reporting crypto crime immediately is crucial.
