Week 27: Online investment fraud – serious money at stake

11.07.2023 - Online investment fraud starts out benignly. Together with a likeable person, the aim is to explore the world of cryptocurrency with an investment of just USD 250. The victims are soon asked to invest more, and thus the damage keeps increasing. This is illustrated by five similar-sounding incidents reported to the NCSC, in which the scammers stole a combined total of over USD 220,000.

It all starts with a message via LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp or some other channel that appears to have been sent to the wrong person by accident. The sender's profile picture seems friendly, so the person who was supposedly sent the message by mistake sends a short message stating that this was probably an oversight.

In many cases, this well-intentioned feedback turns into a prolonged exchange, sometimes spanning weeks or months. At some point, the conversation turns to online investments and the hefty profits that can be made with them.

Pictures and information from the fraudsters' fake account; the images were probably downloaded from somewhere on the internet

The "likeable person" promises to help with a possible investment and to explain every step. The scammers request an initial deposit of USD 250 to open an account. The investor can sometimes withdraw some of this as a test in order to feel reassured. This or something similar is how the first steps on the road to an online investment scam are described to the NCSC. One of the cases recently reported to the NCSC likewise commenced like this.

One of the elaborately designed fraudulent websites, which claims to have been active for eight years. However, a WHOIS query reveals that the site was created on 30 November 2022.

After the first bogus profits – which can be seen only online on the portal – the fraudsters then quickly push for higher investments, in this case USD 80,000.

Another online investment fraud website, which has existed for only two months according to a WHOIS query (outlined in red)

The websites are very elaborately designed and offer multilingual introductory videos as well as 24/7 online support. This shows the profits that the scammers can make. Some of these are also used to pay for expensive advertising campaigns for these fake investment fraud portals.

A huge effort is made with introductory videos and a 24/7 live chat service. The fraudsters expect very substantial profits.

In a second case, the fraudsters got back in touch a year later, posing as a law firm, and promised to recover the lost money. Needless to say, fees had to be paid first. In this case, the fraudsters bagged another USD 40,000.

Taking only the five cases of fraud reported to the NCSC last week, the combined loss amounted to over USD 220,000.

Be very suspicious if people contact you with apparent offers to help you recover your assets.
Do not pay any fees charged to recover your (lost) money.
If you were contacted by such a company, or if you contacted the company yourself, cease contact immediately.
Do not allow yourself to be put under pressure.

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