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Three Canadian men reportedly lost hundreds of thousands of dollars after watching videos that purportedly showed prominent figures vouching for a cryptocurrency investment scheme.
According to CTV News Toronto, Mohammad Haque came across a video on social media that showed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explaining how Canadians could generate gains by investing in crypto.
Haque decided to put in money starting with 1,200 CAD ($880), but when he thought that he had amassed $424,775 from his investments, he discovered that his account was actually empty.
The video he watched turned out to be a deepfake manipulated by artificial intelligence (AI). Haque lost 226,000 CAD ($165,610) to the scam.
Darrell Budnick, who was defrauded of 130,000 CAD ($95,262), saw a similar deepfake video. He thought he was making profits after investing in the scheme but later realized that he could not withdraw his funds.
“Right now I’m panicking. I have a heart condition that’s getting worse. It hurts. It’s scary. I thought I was secure, and now I’m not.”
Giovanni Pugliano was also duped after watching a YouTube video that features Elon Musk saying people can start investing in cryptocurrency with just a few hundred dollars and become rich. The video was a hoax and Pugliano lost 17,000 CAD ($12,457).
“I ended up putting in a lot more than I expected and all of a sudden, I was broke.”
According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, investors across the country lost 148 million CAD ($108.45) to fraudulent investment scams in the first half of 2024. The majority of these schemes involve cryptocurrency.
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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.
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