Woman loses 20 grand in bitcoin scam

A woman in Limassol says she lost over €20,000 after an unknown person convinced her to invest real money in cryptocurrency.

According to police, an adult female described as a Limassol resident, has filed a complaint with authorities, alleging an unknown person had defrauded her of over €20,000 in Bitcoin.

The complainant, described by sources as a fairly young woman, reportedly received a number of online messages back in April 2020 from an unknown person, who told her he was a chief financial officer.

Police said the man appears to have convinced the woman to invest money in cryptocurrency through various online hedge funds.

In May, she reportedly wired €15,000 from her bank account, as well as an additional €5440 in June and July, with the money going into a Bitcoin account that had been designated by her online contact.

The woman told police that her contact then directed her Bitcoin funds to another online account, causing her to lose track of her money and unable to track the cryptocurrency.

After the woman tried unsuccessfully to regain control over her electronic Bitcoin wallet, she realized she was duped and filed an online scam complaint with police.

Bitcoin scams have been on the rise in recent years, especially bitcoin giveaway scams, where scammers promise high returns to unsuspecting people if they are willing to convert money into the secretive crytocurrency and deposit the funds into a designated address.

While many addresses can be legitimate in helping people make money through Bitcoin trading, typical scams are based on fake or problematic addresses promoted by scammers who promise double or triple returns.

Hackers and online criminals typically use bitcoin addresses that may have already been flagged by other users as fake or confirmed scams, but it is up to the individual investors themselves to do some research before sending money into the unknown.

CID Limassol is investigating the case.