Nearly 45% of Ireland’s investment fraud cases involve cryptocurrencies

Ireland’s national police force has reported that almost half of all reported investment scams involve cryptocurrencies.

According to a report by the Irish Independent, 44% of all investment scams in Ireland between January 2020 and August 2024 involved Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Most cases involved scammers posing as investment managers who defrauded victims by “copying web pages and targeting victims through online and social media ads.”

Scammers managed to steal over €75 million (about $83 million) from more than 1,117 victims between January 2020 and August 2024, with €13.5 million stolen so far this year. The biggest loss came in 2023, when €28 million was stolen, more than in 2021 and 2022 combined.

The report detailed a crypto-related incident in which a victim saw an ad on a social media platform offering an investment opportunity in a mobile app-based trading platform. After signing up for the scheme, the scammers contacted the victim and socially engineered him to transfer €45,000 (approximately $50,000).

The scammers then informed the victim that their investment had generated more than €727,000 (approximately $808,620) in profit, which was held in an Ethereum-based Atomic Wallet (USDC) stablecoin. However, when the victim attempted to withdraw the funds, they were asked to pay an additional $40,000 in dirty taxes to gain access to the funds.

Dirty tax involves scammers falsely claiming that the victim must pay a fee or tax to access funds or profits. This is typical of investment scams, as seen in a July warning by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions. In this case, scammers tricked victims into investing in questionable cryptocurrency trading, but when they tried to withdraw their profits, they froze their accounts and demanded additional funds.

Garda National Economic Crime Bureau Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan said scammers often target “ordinary, decent people” and caution should be exercised when making international money transfers.

“Scammers involved in fraudulent investment schemes will appear convincing and claim to have inside information, but they are career criminals following a well-rehearsed script.”

Michael Cryan, Detective Inspector, Garda National Economic Crime Bureau

Crypto investment scams have become increasingly common across multiple regions, with scammers luring victims with promises of significant returns. One of the biggest recent crackdowns involved the Australian Securities and Investments Commission shutting down 615 websites linked to crypto investment scams.

Australia’s competition regulator previously sued Meta over an increase in Facebook ads promoting crypto scams.