Fort St. John RCMP warn of rise in crypto scams targeting employees

CTV News

2 days ago

A Bitcoin ATM was used to deposit funds scammed out of an employee in Fort St. John.
Police in Fort St. John are warning the public not to fall for a new cryptocurrency scam targeting workers.
The warning comes after an employee of a store was scammed out of $900 after being targeted by someone pretending to be their boss.
According to the Fort St. John RCMP, the scammer told the employee the cash was needed to pay for the delivery of a package for the business, convincing them to deposit the total into a Bitcoin ATM July 31.
By the time the employee realized the call had been fake, the money had already been converted into Bitcoin and deposited into the fraudster's crypto wallet.
'Legitimate businesses are not going to ask you to pay for items or services with cryptocurrencies,' said Const. Christiaan Dreyer.
'Once your money is converted into Bitcoin, for example, and sent to a fraudster's crypto wallet, there's an extremely low chance of tracing the money and next to no chance of recovering it.'
There have been 'several similar incidents' in the region in recent months, police said.
Anyone who is contacted by someone purporting to be their boss or a fellow staff member and feels something is off should hang up and call a manager using a trusted phone number, the RCMP said.