Another Alberta lady has sent a cautionary note on so-called “digital riches” and the rush to profit from bitcoin. A Calgary investor who is new to cryptocurrency and digital assets told Global News that she has lost approximately $2,500 as a result of what she believes to be fraudulent activity. “I was being really reckless and ill-prepared for what I was investing,” Isabelle Lévesque said. “I had faith in them. I can’t believe I was apprehended.”
Lévesque said that she discovered TrueNorthBit, a cryptocurrency trading site, a few months ago while doing an internet search. She contacted the corporation, which responded promptly. She said that she continued to get calls from the firm on a consistent basis over the following several weeks. “They insisted on speaking with me on the phone,” she said. “They wanted to learn more about me.” Lévesque said that after gaining her confidence, she entrusted the firm personnel with her money. Particularly, she said, when she began to see results. “The earnings continued to climb daily. I earned $200 profit in less than two weeks at one time.”
However, Lévesque said that she was compelled to invest further funds – thousands more. She said that she was informed that if she did not invest around $10,000 in total, she would be reassigned to a less experienced adviser and would not get the profits she had been receiving. She declined and instead began the process of withdrawing all of her funds — with the assistance, she said, of TrueNorthBit. “This woman contacted me and began directing me to do certain transactions that I was unfamiliar with,” Lévesque said. “The amount on my account that night, the number that I could see online, was zero.” Lévesque emailed the firm email after email, which Global News received.
In one of them, she inquires, “What have you done with my account?” You did not contact me back on Dec. 24 as planned, and my TrueNorthBit account now displays a balance of $0. I never received my funds.” According to an email answer from TrueNorthBit’s support staff, “as we can see, you have lost the money owing to trading activity; please review your closed positions for further details.”
Lévesque maintains she made no trades and just followed the representative’s instructions. Global News attempted to contact TrueNorthBit for comment on her accusations. We addressed a series of emails directly to the persons responsible for Lévesque’s accounts.
We also attempted to contact the Canadian and United Kingdom phone lines mentioned on the emails, but received no response. The Better Business Bureau Serving Southern Alberta and East Kootenay confirmed to Global News that it has not received any more complaints about this business, but has received eight regarding cryptocurrency investment. “The crypto asset market is a bit of a wild west right now,” the BBB’s Wes Lafortune said. “This is a significant issue. It’s on the verge of erupting.” Lafortune said that the usual loss is $600, but he noted that millions of dollars have been lost in Canada as a result of cryptocurrency scams and fraud.
Lafortune noted that although rules around cryptocurrency investment are beginning to “catch up,” significant reform is still a long way off. He advised people to do study, get investing advice from a source they trust, and avoid being rushed or feeling compelled to invest. “It’s reminiscent of the gold rush mindset,” he observed. “People want to earn a fast buck, and there are many promises of enormous wealth and benefit that never materialize.” “The bottom line is that you should never invest in a crypto asset unless you can afford to lose it.”
According to Global News, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) is also aware of parties participating in fraudulent investment schemes, including those using crypto assets/cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin. It and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) recently issued investor advisories highlighting the risks. The ASC said that it is committed to teaching Albertans about investment, including crypto assets, but cautioned that they are very risky and not suited for all investors. Additionally, it has introduced a variety of tools to its website to assist investors in determining whether sites are registered. Additionally, it urged Alberta residents to disregard unsolicited cryptocurrency investment proposals received online or through social media.
In India, a day after news reports indicated that the Palestinian terror group Hamas was responsible for the theft of cryptocurrency worth more than $0.6 million from the wallet of a west Delhi businessman, the Delhi Police announced that efforts were underway to track down the suspects via international channels. “In this instance, we have identified a Palestinian and an Egyptian suspect. We will be continuing the inquiry via available international avenues. Today, the stolen bitcoin is worth around $0.60 million. The theft was committed by Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades “KPS Malhotra, DCP (Special Cell), said.
The Palestinian suspect, Naseer Ibrahim Abdulla, is a Hamas operative based in Ramallah, while the Egyptian suspect, Ahmed Marzouq, is from Giza. Abdulla’s wallet was seized by Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terrorism Financing as part of a larger operation targeting Hamas’ cryptocurrency network. A Special Cell investigation led the agencies to trace “Tumbler Accounts” used by Hamas to deposit bitcoin stolen from wallets throughout the globe. According to sources, Bitcoins stolen from the Paschim Vihar businessman were put in these Tumblers in exchange for a fee, and money in US dollars was likely transferred to Hamas agents.
Not only has the Delhi Police’s investigation, conducted in partnership with a foreign intelligence agency, established the first connection between cryptocurrencies and terrorist organisations in relation to Indian consumers. Additionally, on Monday morning, the YouTube accounts of Indian cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto-native businesses, and worldwide celebrities were hijacked. The vulnerability was discovered after an unnamed hacker uploaded a video to their channels advocating a crypto fraud dubbed ‘One World Cryptocurrency.’ CoinDCX, CoinSwitch Kuber, WazirX, and Unocoin were among the Indian firms whose YouTube accounts were hacked. WazirX said that it had spoken out to YouTube and is awaiting a response.
