Victim loses $35K in Bitcoin to fraudsters posing as Microsoft representatives
![Bitcoin An advertisement of Bitcoin, one of the cryptocurrencies, is displayed on a building in Hong Kong, on Nov. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2023/8/8/bitcoin-1-6511381-1691543532236.jpg)
Police are warning the public after an individual in Adelaide Metcalfe lost $35,000 in Bitcoin to scammers who had posed as Microsoft representatives over the weekend.
According to Middlesex County OPP, at 8:37 a.m. on Aug. 7, police officers were dispatched to a residence in Adelaide Metcalfe where an individual reported being the victim of fraud.
Police said the victim had received a pop-up alert from Microsoft indicating that an update was ready for their computer with directions to call a provided phone number.
The victim called the number and was told the firewall was expired and that payment was required.
The victim then purchased and installed a fake firewall.
The next day, another individual posing as a Microsoft representative called the victim to confirm everything was working well, at which time police said the victim granted control of their computer to the scammers, including their banking information.
The fraudsters then advised the victim that they inadvertently transferred funds into the victim’s account, and demanded the money be paid back in Bitcoin.
Police said the victim complied and transferred the fraudsters approximately $35,000 in Bitcoin.
OPP remind the public that scammers create confusion and chaos during interactions, leading victims to react impulsively. They advise that any unsolicited requests should be verified before providing personal information, and if feeling pressured, people should hang up the phone or delete the sender’s profile.
The investigation continues.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
DEVELOPING Alberta's request for federal assistance approved after fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
Jasper mayor says alert system to be reviewed after message 'glitch'
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.
Canada's premiers forced to confront escalating climate change-related disasters
Many of Canada's provincial and territorial leaders remained consumed by climate change-related natural disasters that have only escalated since they met for meetings in Halifax last week.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Unclaimed bodies are piling up in Newfoundland. A funeral director blames the government
A funeral director in St. John's says the bodies piling up in freezers at Newfoundland and Labrador's largest hospital likely belong to people whose loved ones couldn't get enough government help to pay for a funeral.
U.K. police officer suspended after video appears to show a man being kicked in head
A British police officer was suspended from all duties Thursday after a video was posted on social media that appeared to show an officer kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the floor of a terminal at Manchester Airport.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Monday breaks the record for the hottest day ever on Earth
Driven by oceans that won't cool down, an unseasonably warm Antarctica and worsening climate change, Earth's record hot streak dialed up this week, making Monday the hottest day humans have measured.