Barrie Police are urging residents to be careful after a Barrie man lost nearly $100,000 in an online scam. According to police, the 63-year-old responded to a social media advertisement offering the opportunity to invest in foreign currency, gold and silver. Police say the initial investment he made was small and within the first two weeks, he received a return on the investment that appeared to show decent profit. Police say things escalated when the fraudsters contacted him by phone to confirm he had received the money, then encouraged him to invest even more and get larger returns in the future. Police say as the man made further investments, the fraudster provided him screenshots, showing his investments increasing in value over time. However, when the man attempted to withdraw his money, the scammer said a conversion fee or security deposit was required to release the funds, which would be refunded with the rest of the money. Police say the man was asked to use cryptocurrency machines to make the payment. Throughout the entire process, police say the man was defrauded out of $95,000. Police are asking residents to take a few minutes before sending any money and consult with at least two people. Residents are also encouraged to research investment companies and try to confirm their legitimacy. Police warn that cryptocurrency especially can be “extremely difficult” to recover funds once invested. Cryptocurrency can especially be difficult to follow, as according to police, in the course of this investigation, the money moved through several locations around the world.
