Ukrainian scammers steal +$200 million from Canada in 2023 alone
3 Min Read
A whistleblower has informed CBC that Canada is an 'easy target' for scammers as law enforcement "has made no real prosecutions of the scammers."
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In this Thursday, March 20, 2014, file photo, Christopher David uses a Robocoin kiosk to sell bitcoins outside of the 500 Startups' Bitcoinference in California, United States. (AP)
Canada's state broadcaster CBC/Radio Canada announced this week that Ukrainian and Eastern European scammers have Canada as a main target, as it is considered an "easy target" by the criminals amid Canadian authorities' lack of action.
A whistleblower known as "Alex" gave the broadcaster information about an extensive investment scam network operating online and via calls. He claimed that it involves "hundreds" of fraudulent call centers based in Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe. A single center is said to employ 150 people in Kiev who work to "steal the life savings of Canadians," CBC revealed.
CBC cited the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) which revealed that last year only, more than Can$300 million was stolen from Canadians in investment scams, which is nine times as much as the 2020 amount. It added that half of the latter were related to cryptocurrency fraud.
The government is careless
Canada has become majorly targeted by scammers as it is neglectful of prosecution of such activities, Alex revealed.
"I see that Canadians are target No. 1. I think it's because law enforcement has made no real prosecutions of the scammers," he stated adding, "I think this makes an impression, for the scammers, that Canada is an easy target."
A senior investigator at IFW Global, an Australian company specializing in fraud recovery, told CBC that "These criminals love Canada." He believes that the Canadian government does not invest in prosecuting such cases, and the possibilities of these scammers being caught “are very slim.”
How do these frauds work?
The scammers draw in their targets through social media ads displaying pictures of important Canadian public figures like the country's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, as a promotional method for cryptocurrency investments on Facebook and other platforms, claiming that they offer risk-free, high-yield cryptocurrency investments, CBC reported.
These criminals began employing people to specifically work with "Canada only," CBC added. In one experience, a Radio Canada journalist managed to apply for such a "job" at a Kiev-based call center that exclusively targeted Canadians.
CBC further revealed that these "agents" were presented with a monthly base salary of $1,200 and a 10% commission on all the money they stole. Those who managed to steal $100,000 per month from their targets could have a salary increase reaching $1,500.
