Cruel fraudsters are targeting those who have already been victims
Scammers and fraudsters are becoming increasingly brazen in their tactics to tempt investors to hand over personal and financial information.
The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization is warning investors about a new investment recovery scam in which targets those who have already been victims of a financial scam, a cruel escalation of their activities.
CIRO says that individuals have been contacted by people claiming to be employees of the regulator, using names including George Boris, Aldo Gomez and Lucas Laso, referencing transactions through the Blockchair website and trying to get victims of previous scams to pay to get their lost money back.
None of these people are CIRO employees and the regulator says that it will never require individuals to purchase insurance or pay a fee of any type to recover their losses, nor do we contact people to help them get their money back.
With new techniques and increasing sophisticated technology, fraudsters are often hard to detect, but there are several ways that Canadian investors and consumers can verify information instead of relying on what they are being told in communications:
- CIRO monitors crypto trading in the CIRO approved Crypto Trading Platforms (CTPs) and encourages all crypto investors to consult the list of CTPs that are authorized to do business with Canadian investors
- All individuals registered to offer financial advice in Canada are listed on the National Registration Search of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA)
- CIRO's Complaints & Inquiries team can help verify the legitimacy of anyone claiming to represent CIRO
- A list of dealers CIRO regulates is available on its website
- Checks on the background, qualifications and disciplinary history of investment advisors registered with CIRO or the CSA are on the free AdvisorReport for advisors registered with investment dealers, or the CSA's National Registrant Search.
Anyone who believes they are a victim of a scam or fraud should contact their bank, local police, provincial securities commission, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre Victims of a CIRO impersonation scam or a scam claiming CIRO regulation, should be reported to CIRO.
