Limassol Resident Scammed Out of $260,000 by Cryptocurrency Fraudsters

Another case of online fraud has emerged in Cyprus, where cryptocurrency scammers have defrauded a Limassol resident of $260,000.

According to the police press office, a 49-year-old man reported the incident to Limassol police the previous evening. He had previously transferred a substantial amount of money to the fraudsters.

The victim explained that in early August, he received a message on his mobile phone, apparently from a cryptocurrency exchange, claiming that suspicious activity had been detected on his account. The message instructed him to transfer his assets to a "safe place."

Believing the scammers, the man followed their instructions and created a new account on a different exchange.

The fraudsters then contacted the victim and persuaded him to convert his bank account funds into cryptocurrency, claiming there was a "security threat" due to the connection between his bank accounts and the newly created cryptocurrency accounts.

The 49-year-old realized he had been scammed when he tried to transfer the cryptocurrency to another digital wallet and discovered that his balance was zero.

The case is under investigation by the Limassol Criminal Investigation Division (TAE) and the Cybercrime Unit.