The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) in Haldimand County are reminding people to be cautious after a Jarvis resident was defrauded of $55,000 by investing in cryptocurrency with an online brokerage.

OPP said it happened between Oct. 13, 2021 and Jan. 28.

The victim is currently unable to retrieve their money from the investments.

The Haldimand Crime Unit has taken control of the investigation due to the large amount of funds missing.

OPP shared a number of tips to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of online scams, including:

• Keeping a close eye on bank accounts and credit cards
• Never providing any personal information to someone you don’t know
• Always verifying all contact information and not just calling a number or emailing an address that some unknown person provides you with
• The name on the caller display may be fraudulent
• Giving yourself some time to complete your own research
• If someone calls you and identifies themselves as a bank representative, hang up and call your local branch to verify the call is legitimate

If you are the recipient of a fraudulent call, text or email, or if you’ve been a victim of a fraud, you are encouraged to report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre by calling 1-888-495-8501 or visit http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca.