'It's scary': 3 Ontario men lose $373,000 to crypto investment fraud

How crypto scammers are utilizing AI on victims From Elon Musk to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, three victims describe how crypto scammers used AI to scam them out of thousands.

Three men across Ontario are speaking out after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a cryptocurrency investment scam, including one man in Brampton who lost $226,000.

“I started with $1,200 and within two weeks I was at like $3,000,” said Mohammad Haque.

Haque told CTV News Toronto he came across a video on social media which appeared to show Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explaining how Canadians could make good money investing in cryptocurrency.

However, the video he saw was a deepfake and had been manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI).

“Justin Trudeau and the Finance Minister gave key opportunities to invest a little and make big money,” Haque explained. “At the last moment, I asked my daughter, and she said, ‘Dad, this is a scam. You’re losing all your money.’”

While Haque thought he had amassed US$424,775 in his account, he discovered it was empty and was defrauded out of $226,000.

Darrell Budnick of Mississauga had a similar experience when he saw a video claiming he could make money in cryptocurrency. While it appeared his investments were going up, when he tried to withdraw the funds, he couldn’t.

“Boy I got scammed good and really hard,” said Budnick.

He was duped out of $130,000.

“Right now I’m panicking. I have a heart condition that’s getting worse. It hurts. It’s scary. I thought I was secure, and now I’m not,” said Budnick.

Mewanhile, Giovanni Pugliano of Hamilton came across a deepfake video featuring Elon Musk on YouTube that claimed he could start investing in cryptocurrencies with just a few hundred dollars and eventually become rich.

“I ended up putting in a lot more than I expected and all of a sudden, I was broke,” Pugliano told CTV News Toronto, who said his losses totalled $17,000.

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, between Jan. 1 and Jun 30 of this year there have been $148 million in fraudulent investment losses reported across the county. The majority of the investment frauds were in cryptocurrency.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) released a public warning about the scam, saying investors are getting caught in the ruse in record numbers and that victims are losing their homes and life savings.

“We are seeing suicides. We are seeing the elderly having to move in with their children, and we are seeing more people lining up at food banks,” said Acting Det. –Sgt. John Armit of the OPP’s Anti-Rackets Branch.

The OPP also said for Ontarians who are interested in investing in crypto, they can educate themselves through the Ontario Securities Commission website.

According to the OPP, there are also secure crypto trading platforms which have been authorized by the Canadian Securities Administrators to do business with Canadians.

As for the three victims who contacted CTV News Toronto, they wanted to share their story to warn others.

“I ruined my life, and my family’s life,” said Haque, who added “I’m in a dangerous situation. I don’t know how to recover from this, but I am trying.”

When people are scammed, they are often contacted by companies that claim they can get their investments back for a fee. However, that is also a scam run by the same criminals who took the victims money in the first place.