July 2026
What began as a modest $250 cryptocurrency investment became a devastating six-figure loss for CARP member Gary and his wife. Their experience is a cautionary tale about how sophisticated fraud can unfold in stages, first through a convincing online investment scheme, then through fraudulent “recovery” companies that prey on victims’ hope of getting their money back. Gary is sharing his experience to warn other Canadians and to call for stronger protections from governments, financial institutions and technology platforms.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gary came across online advertisements promoting cryptocurrency investment opportunities. The advertisements appeared on Facebook and featured recognizable public figures, creating the impression that the investments were credible, and claimed that people could begin investing with only 250 US dollars.
Cryptocurrency investments were all over the news, so Gary and his wife hoped that investing some of their nest-egg could help provide greater financial security for themselves in their retirement and for their family.
After depositing the initial funds, Gary was given access to websites that appeared to show his investments increasing in value. The numbers rose from hundreds of dollars to thousands and eventually tens of thousands.
“As each day went by or each week went by, the numbers – your investment or your profits – grew,” Gary recalled.
The websites looked convincing, and a regular contact guided him through the process, telling him when to invest and how much money to deposit. However, when Gary began asking to withdraw some of the apparent profits, everything changed.
His contact became unavailable, offered excuses and attempted to transfer him to someone else.
“The very minute you start questioning things like that, things change entirely,” Gary said.
The profits displayed online were not real, and the money Gary and his wife had transferred was gone.
But the fraud did not stop there.
Gary soon began receiving calls, emails and Facebook messages from people claiming they could recover his money. Some appeared to represent law firms, banks, regulators or law enforcement organizations.
Gary believes his personal information may have been shared or sold to other scammers. The recovery companies understood that he desperately wanted his savings back and used that hope against him.
In one case, Gary was told that his money was being held by a bank in Spain and could be released after he paid taxes and fees. The money never arrived.
Between the original investment fraud and recovery scams that followed, Gary lost a total of $125,000.
Gary still receives suspicious calls, texts and WhatsApp messages promoting investment, employment and online income opportunities.
His advice to others is simple: never trust an unsolicited investment or recovery offer, never pay upfront fees to release money and never allow an unknown person to remotely access your computer or bank account.
“If it looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true,” he said.
Gary’s experience reflects why fraud prevention, enforcement and victim redress remain one of CARP’s top advocacy priorities. CARP has argued that governments and financial institutions cannot continue placing the entire responsibility on individuals to identify increasingly sophisticated scams
However, Gary’s experience is not an isolated case. Another CARP member recently reported losing $4500 after sending money to a scammer through a Localcoin cryptocurrency ATM.
“The machine had a warning, but it was too vague and too small to make any difference,” the member said.
Through our ongoing discussion with elected officials and policy decision makers, CARP is calling for stronger fraud-detection systems at banks, better coordination between police and regulators, tougher penalties for criminals targeting older adults and meaningful assistance for victims trying to report losses and understand their options.
You can read our full policy brief here. https://www.carp.ca/2025/04/01/frauds-and-scams-carp-demands-justice-for-seniors/
CARP also supported federal action to prohibit crypto ATMs used to facilitate fraud and has called on Meta to take greater responsibility for fraudulent advertisements appearing on Facebook. You can read about our appearance before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry and Technology and see the letter to Meta here. https://www.carp.ca/2026/06/11/carp-open-letter-to-meta-protect-seniors-from-frauds-on-facebook/
Education remains important, but it is not enough. Older Canadians need real-time protections before their savings disappear, not explanations after it is already too late.
CARP will continue to advocate with banks, tech companies and governments to put in the needed safeguards to protect Canadian seniors from ever more sophisticated frauds and scams.
