The victims were attracted by advertisements on social media that promised high profits and used the image of public figures linked to sport, such as Cristiano Ronaldo. After showing interest, they were directed to digital platforms, where they registered and provided personal data.
Two people were scammed in about 140 thousand euros through fraudulent schemes related to investments in cryptoactives, the PSP reported this Tuesday, following complaints filed at the Caldas da Rainha police station.
The first victim suffered an estimated loss of 130 thousand euroswhile the second lost around 8000 euros. There is no relationship between the victims, and it was a coincidence that the complaints were filed on the same day and at the same police station.
According to , victims began to be contacted by telephone by individuals presenting themselves as financial experts or investment managers.
These promised personalized monitoring and significant gains, convincing them to carry out tbank transfers to different accounts, allegedly intended for high-yield investments.
The scheme continued while the victims continued to invest. However, when they tried to redeem the supposed profits or recover the amounts invested, they found that this was not possible, realizing that they had been the target of a scam.
The PSP warns of the increase in this type of fraud, highlighting that many of these schemes resort to abusive use of the image of public figures, celebrities or experts, often through content manipulated using artificial intelligence.
According to , one of the scams used the image of Cristiano Ronaldo in ads published on Facebook.
The police advise citizens to distrust promises high and guaranteed profits, verifying the legitimacy of the platforms used, never allowing remote access to your equipment by strangers and seeking independent advice before making any financial investment.
Cryptocurrency-related scams take different forms and can reach citizens through sponsored advertisements, social networks, email, instant messaging applications, such as WhatsApp or Telegram, or even through apparently trustworthy websites.
