Gardaí have warned people to be extra vigilant when investing in cryptocurrencies as reports of investment fraud continue to rise dramatically.
Figures show there were 234 reports of investment fraud in 2021 amounting to over €12 million.
There was a nearly 70% increase in reports of investment fraud last year compared to the previous year.
Investment fraud is where criminals pose as investment managers and fool people into investing money in schemes that don't exist.
How much money are people losing?
Gardaí say the criminals start people off with a small amount and then tempt people to put in more over time.
The figures can range from a €1,500 investment to a €300,000 investment over nine transactions.
Gardaí say this money can never be recovered.
Most of the fraud involves cryptocurrencies with fake managers, cloned websites or unregulated companies promising 'once in a lifetime opportunities.'
In some cases the companies may even appear to be endorsed by reputable business people or celebrities without their knowledge.
How can you avoid falling victim to investment fraud?
Anyone thinking of investing in cryptocurrencies should not invest until they have reliable financial and legal advice.
Gardaí say the regulatory status of the company should be checked on the Central Bank's website.
Cold calls about investment opportunities should be ignored and people should beware of celebrity endorsed investments as they may not even be aware their name is being used.
People are also advised by gardaí not to respond to pop up social media ads or messages about investment returns.
Detective Inspector Mel Smyth said some websites claim to be regulated by the Central Bank but this is not always the case.
"We look at a website and we tend to trust it as it looks professional but that's just a website it can be created in ten minutes, it can be leased from a domain provider for ten euro a month, it can look very very professional so don't be duped by a professional website," he said.
He also said the fraudsters are usually very well trained and seem to know a lot about the business.
"They will be very well rehearsed and will anticipate the questions you will ask to encourage you to invest in products with them.
"They will speak the language of the investment company to convince you that this is a very convincing product," he said.
He said that once money goes into cryptocurrencies it is gone out of the person's control as it's an unregulated industry.
"People have lodged tens of thousands of euro at cryptocurrency ATM machines around Ireland to fraudsters," he added.
Detective Chief Superintendent Pat Lordan said you need to look at who you are giving your money to.
"People are not doing the checks, they are not doing the balances, they are just looking at the return on the investment that they are being promised by these criminals and they are experts at it, some of them I have no doubt have training in financial services," he said.
"You have to stop for one minute and say I have worked really hard to save this €10,000, why would I give it away so quickly to an investment company when I have no knowledge where it is going to end up," he said.
"My message to the public today is stop, if it was this easy to make money why would we all be going to work in the morning stuck in traffic, if it was that easy, it is not that easy, so please stop and think."
