Gardai in Waterford are appealing to people to aware of scams online.
It's after a member of the public lost a substantial sum of money in an investment fraud. The injured party believed they were investing in the cryptocurrency 'Bitcoin'.
Gardai are appealing to people to use an approved financial advisor or to carry out proper research before signing up to anything.
They say that some of the pop-up ads appear when on legitimate sites, leading the person to believe they are genuine.
Sergeant Brendan Roche from Waterford Garda Station says the scams take many forms.
"The investment scams are where they try to encourage you to buy shares, bonds or crypto-currency. It often has a time limit and you're pressurised into adding more and more money into the account and you eventually end up losing it all."
Key signs to watch out for with investment scams
- The victim is cold-called, i.e. they receive a telephone call out of the blue or receive an e-mail or are contacted via social media about a great investment opportunity.
- The victim is rushed and pressured into making a decision there and then, with no opportunity or time to consider the investment opportunity.
- There is a promise of a quick and profitable return on the investment with little or no risk.
- If the victim does some research on the company name and see terms like ‘the reputation of this broker is doubtful’ or ‘at best it is an unregulated broker’ then caution should be taken and the victim should walk away
Advice to the public
- Always seek independent financial and legal advice before making any investments and heed this advice
- Don’t respond to POP-UP adds, social media adds / contacts
- Don’t follow links from POP-UP adds or from social media or unsolicited emails/messages or other communications from persons unknown
- Don’t respond to cold calls
- Be wary of unsolicited emails / texts / calls / offers / advices
- Be wary where the investment is being endorsed by celebrities / famous business people – they may not know their name is attached to the advertisement
- Never ever give away your banking codes, pins, passwords, or any other personal data
- Don’t download suggested APPS and never allow another to take control of your computer
- Only use regulated entities. All Financial Services Providers which hold an authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland (‘Central Bank’), or where applicable, the SSM (the Single Supervisory Mechanism – European Central Bank), to provide financial services in Ireland are listed in the Central Bank Registers section. Prior to entering into a financial services transaction, members of the public can check the regulatory status of the firm they are dealing with
- Ensure you are on a real site and not a cloned / fake site – make sure the site is HTTPS secured – this is no guarantee that the site is genuine but it’s a start
- Do research on cryptocurrencies before making any investments – there are many different types
- Watch out for fake wallets - wallets are primarily about storing your cryptocurrency and not buying or selling it. Fake wallets can be scams for malware to infect your computer to steal your passwords and other personal information
- Look at the company you are thinking of investing in – do your research – do google searches – see if any warnings/media articles – check where is the company registered/regulated – Always check the central bank website
- Only invest what you can afford to lose. No investment return in 100% guaranteed.
- Be VERY wary of advertisements offering very high ‘too good to be true’ returns.
- Remember investing in cryptocurrency is high risk – most will fail
- Cryptocurrencies are virtual – if you lose your private key they are unrecoverable
- Virtual currencies are not regulated, so if something does go wrong you will not be able to claim compensation – YOU HAVE NO CONSUMER PROTECTION
- If you get a good offer – stop and consider – why me? why am I getting this once in a lifetime offer? why the rush?
- Be wary where there is a sense of urgency – has to be done now / last chance / etc /etc - don’t allow yourself to be rushed into it
- The Central Bank of Ireland advises that investing in cryptocurrency is unsuitable for most consumers particularly those pursuing long-term goals like saving for retirement
