Paphos man loses more than €77,600 in linked cryptocurrency scams
A 61-year-old man in Paphos reported losing more than €77,600 after falling victim to an alleged cryptocurrency investment scam and a subsequent recovery scam.
Paphos, Cyprus. A 61-year-old man has reported losing more than €77,600 in two linked cryptocurrency scams, police said on Saturday. The case is being investigated by Paphos CID.
Initial investment scam
According to the complaint, the man encountered a social media advertisement promoting cryptocurrency investments in mid-February.
He contacted an unknown English-speaking woman through a phone application and, following her instructions, converted €6,200 from his bank account into cryptocurrency. The money was transferred to an unknown digital wallet for investment.
He was given a link allowing him to monitor what appeared to be his investment, which later showed substantial profits.
When he tried to withdraw the money, he was asked to pay an additional €3,222. He then suspected he had been scammed and stopped communicating with the woman.
Recovery scam
A month later, the man was contacted through a phone application by two Greek-speaking individuals who claimed to specialise in recovering money lost through online scams.
They allegedly told him they could recover his initial loss and help him withdraw supposed profits from previous cryptocurrency investments.
Between March 20 and July 27, the man made a series of bank transfers to overseas accounts provided by the suspects. The payments were requested under various pretexts, including fees, charges and taxes said to be needed to complete the recovery process and release the profits.
He did not receive any money and later concluded that he had been scammed for a second time.
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