Crypto scam worth upwards of $2.7m
Police warn older residents after more than 100 caught out
POLICE have warned older Australians to be mindful of scams after more than 100 people were targeted by an alleged criminal syndicate on the Gold Coast.
The group is accused of running a cold-call cryptocurrency scam worth upwards of $2.7 million.
It is alleged three men and two women, arrested in May and August, operated a number of businesses on the Gold Coast that sold investments in cryptocurrency.
Investigators are still working to determine the extent of the offences.
Three Gold Coast men aged 56, 44 and 33 and two women aged 28 and 21 have been charged with fraud and money laundering.
The group is alleged to have been participants in a criminal organisation.
The 56-year-old man has also been charged with two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
From 2017, victims were contacted to invest in Exmount Holdings Group. The company had a website, call centre and sales staff, police allege.
Police will allege there were a number of companies believed to be attached to the scam – Exmount Holdings Ltd, The Quid Pro Quo Foundation, The Atlas Group, AFG Associated Pty Ltd, tradex123, exmounttradings, atlasfxground and amazonqus.
It will be alleged the victims were offered a trial investment and promised generous returns once they invested more funds.
Online they could watch their initial investment grow via a unique log-in, police claim.
The State Crime Command’s Financial and Cyber Crime Group Detective Superintendent Terry Lawrence alleges the investors were then unable to withdraw their earnings.
“Their money had gone and any attempt they made to contact one of the companies or their staff was unsuccessful,” he claims.
Detectives from the Financial and Cyber Crime Group executed a number of search warrants across the region as part of the investigation.
The arrests follow a lengthy cold-call investigation by police, known as Operation Quebec Walnut.
Detective Sergeant Kris Steadman, the senior investigator during the operation, said his team was continuing inquiries.
He urged people to careful with their money.
“The technology behind cryptocurrency is quite a good thing, it allows for the instantaneous transfer of money, internationally or person to person,” he said.
“Unfortunately because of the nature of it, the fact that you can be anonymous, it has some draws from the criminal side of things.
“The elderly don’t have as much technical knowledge as the young people growing up. As young people we’re more sceptical.” be
THE ELDERLY DON’T HAVE AS MUCH TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AS THE YOUNG PEOPLE. AS YOUNG PEOPLE WE’RE MORE SCEPTICAL SERGEANT KRIS STEADMAN