91原创 RCMP are reporting that more 91原创 residents are falling victim to a Bitcoin scam that has people losing thousands of dollars to an aggressive scammer.

Two 91原创 residents, a senior and a young person, lost more than $15,000 of their money this week, stolen through the Bitcoin scam, said 91原创 RCMP Cpl. Holly Largy.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just awful and it shows that the fraudsters aren鈥檛 targeting a specific demographic. They are going after everyone,鈥� she said.

鈥淭hese criminals are very aggressive and very threatening 鈥� often threatening that they will come and arrest the them if they don鈥檛 do what they say and deposit the Bitcoin into specific accounts. The criminal walks the person through, step by step, on how to send the Bitcoin into the account they specify.鈥�

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that isn鈥檛 attached to any government or bank and is mined online with no actual paper currency.

On Feb. 6, 91原创 police warned of the Bitcoin scam after a local resident lost $5,000 to scam artists posing as Canada Revenue agents.

鈥淚t鈥檚 exactly a month ago to the day that I put out information about a victim of the Bitcoin scam,鈥� Largy said.

In the scam, a person receives a phone call from someone posing as a Canada Revenue 鈥榦fficer.鈥� He tells his victim an arrest warrant has been issued and only a deposit of $5,000 in Bitcoin will void the warrant.

91原创 RCMP said that organizations and government would never threaten anyone with arrest nor would they demand money be deposited anywhere.

91原创 RCMP urge residents, if contacted, to hang up on the person and call the police non-emergency line at 604-532-3200 right away.

monique@langleytimes.com
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