Curious about cryptoassets

Stéphane was planning to retire in three years. Everything he was reading and hearing about cryptoassets suggested that he could make a substantial amount of money and even retire earlier that expected.

Giving strangers your contact information is like giving them the key to your house

His attention was drawn to one of the ads appearing on the social networks he liked to frequent. He completed an online form so he could get more information. After all, what did he have to lose?

A call from a friendly “financial advisor”

The next day, Stéphane received a call from a “financial advisor” named Fabrice who said he was based in Luxembourg. Fabrice claimed to work for KryptoSelect360. He was friendly, outgoing and professional. He inspired Stéphane’s trust. Fabrice touted cryptoassets as “low-risk investments offering returns that are at least 10 times higher than what is offered by the stock markets.”

The fraudster’s objective: gain your trust by starting with a small amount

Stéphane hesitated, at which point Fabrice suggested that Stéphane invest a modest amount, $300, and convert it to cryptoassets. Fabrice helped Stéphane open an account on a cryptoasset trading platform, convert his dollars to cryptoassets, then transfer the amount to KryptoSelect360’s platform to make it grow. For Stéphane, $300 seemed like a reasonable amount for someone making their first foray into the world of cryptoasset investing.

After three weeks, the $300 investment had grown to $750. To make sure that everything was above board, Stéphane withdrew some of the money, with Fabrice’s help. Fabrice told him that he had earned a good return, but that he could get rich “very quick” if he invested larger amounts.

Never hand over remote access to your computer

Inspired by the ease with which Fabrice touted the alleged merits of cryptoassets and by the return he had earned , Stéphane told himself that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He undertook to transfer money in large amounts. Fabrice asked for and obtained control of Stéphane’s  computer and showed Stéphane how his investments were performing. Encouraged by his portfolio balance, which was increasing  virtually in front of his eyes,  a perception that was supported by graphs and statements, Stéphane invested tens of thousands of dollars, several times a week. Within three months, he had invested nearly $240,000 in cryptoassets. According to what he saw on his computer screen, he was already a millionaire.

Realizing that it’s a scam and it’s too late

Satisfied with the balance in his portfolio, Stéphane wanted to sell his cryptoassets and asked Fabrice to liquidate his investment. Fabrice told Stéphane that certain fees and capital gains tax needed to be paid first, leaving a total of $200,000. Stéphane then asked Fabrice to deduct the amount from his portfolio balance. Fabrice told him that it was not possible to proceed in that way and that Stéphane would have to send the amount to KryptoSelect360 in order to retrieve the value of his cryptoassets.

That is when Stéphane realized he had been scammed. In the next few days, the KryptoSelect 360 site disappeared from the Internet and Fabrice stopped answering his calls. The cryptoassets Stéphane thought he had owned had been transferred to a series of anonymous accounts and were not longer traceable.