Cryptocurrency Scam: Electrician Loses $100,000 in Investment Fraud

• A Canadian senior is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy after losing more than $100,000 in a cryptocurrency scam

• 74-year-old Robert Dunning who is a retired electrician, lost all the money in chequing, savings, line of credit, and credit card accounts within 2 weeks

• The fraudsters were able to access his account after he set up his online banking and invested $250 in Bitcoin

Robert Dunning, a 74-year-old retired electrician has been left with close to nothing after losing nearly $100,000 to a cryptocurrency scam.

The Nanaimo senior reported that his chequing, savings, line of credit, and credit card accounts were cleaned out by scammers after he set up online banking and invested $250 in Bitcoin.

Running disclosed that he had harbored an interest in cryptocurrency for a while, so he tried it out by investing the minimum amount- $250.

The next morning he got a call from a ‘trader’ who claimed to be from an online brokerage and promised to help get Dunning started.

To begin with, the trader asked for a photo of his driver’s license, and he already had his email and phone number.

Dunning said. “He said you’re going to have to have online banking for this to work.”

After setting up online banking, Dunning had no idea that the scammer had gained access to his account and for the next two weeks he moved more than $100,000.

The victim got no warning from his bank and he didn’t find out about his loss till he went grocery shopping and his card was declined.

Read also: Cryptocurrency Prices go Crazy on Coinbase and CoinMarketCap Due to Glitch

Dunning reported that about $101,000 was stolen in the cryptocurrency scam- $30,000 from his line of credit, about $9,000 from his chequing account, $37,000 from his savings account, and $25,000 on his credit card.

He bemoaned the difficultly of losing such an amount of money at this age and pleaded with the bank to do something to cover his losses.

Follow Naija.fm on our social media handles Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to keep up with trending news, breaking news, entertainment news, and hot gist.