This Canadian lost his life savings in a crypto scam on YouTube

This Canadian lost his life savings in a crypto scam on YouTube

Stephen Carr - a resident of Meaford, Ontario - said he lost his entire life savings of nearly $500,000 after being tricked into a cryptocurrency scheme on YouTube.

Scammers have used the video-sharing website to lure victims on multiple occasions. Some have even uploaded fake recordings of famous personalities, including Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates and Kanye West, appearing to promote dubious cryptocurrency investments.

'I'm devastated'

In a recentinterview, Carr said he became involved in the crypto scam through a video he saw on YouTube. The malefactors promised viewers that they could make significant profits if they invested in their project.

The Canadian initially found nothing suspicious and contacted the people. He started with an investment of $250 and shortly after contributed another $2,500.

After a while, Carr requested a $1,000 withdrawal, which the company immediately honored. This gave him more confidence that everything was legitimate, and between October 2022 and January 2023 he invested almost $500,000 (his entire life savings).

The Canadian had his first doubts when he saw his balance growing to $1.3 million and asked to have some of it withdrawn. However, the bad actors insisted that he pay a $150,000 liquidation fee to complete the withdrawal.

“I was conned, and in hindsight I put a ridiculous amount of money into it and put a ridiculous amount of trust in these people,” Carr lamented.

The devastated individual admitted the scam had forced him to put his house up for sale so he could reorganize his life. “I have maybe two or three months of usable money left and that’s it,” he added.

Carr said he wanted to share his story so others could remain cautious and not repeat his mistake.

Jason Tschetter – an Alberta resident who was also conned into a similar scheme last year – recently founded Fraud Hunters Canada (an organization that supports victims and helps them recover funds).

He outlined that criminals have turned cryptocurrency fraud into an “actual business,” while police lack the necessary time and ability to research and catch the culprits.

"Unfortunately, many people will go through the anger, the depression, the denial. They will even try to negotiate with the criminal, but it just won't work. I have spoken to several recovery companies, but many of them are in the same boat and are fraudulent themselves," Tschetter said.

Other crypto scams on YouTube

Steve Wozniak – one of the co-founders of Apple –fileda lawsuit against YouTube in the summer of 2020 that claimed scammers could have used his face to lure people into fake Bitcoin giveaways. American inventor and computer programmerlostthe case in 2021 after the court found that its arguments were not strong enough.

Wozniak is not the only famous personality involved in such scams. Criminals have also posed as Elon Musk, Bill Gates and others over the years.

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