Gardaí have warned of a "staggering" rise in cases of investment fraud - with more than €28 million stolen from victims last year.
So far this year, more than €13.5m has been stolen through investment fraud - more than 2021 and 2022 combined.
Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau told RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne that because of a lag in reports, this year will likely be higher than last year.
Since January 2020, over 1,117 people have reported incidents of investment fraud, with more than €75m stolen in total.
Of those cases, almost half (44%) made reference to Bitcoin or cryptocurrency.
Men are increasingly becoming victims of investment fraud and remain most at risk, with the majority of victims (64%) male, according to gardaí.
Those aged over 40 make up more than half of the victims.
Investment fraud is where criminals pose as investment managers to fool someone into investing money in schemes and projects that do not exist.
Gardaí said that during a period of high cost of living, "sophisticated criminals" take advantage by cloning webpages and targeting victims through online and social media adverts by promising 'once in a lifetime opportunities' to instantly invest with fast and large financial returns.
Mr Cryan said that sometimes people are embarrassed to tell their families or anyone about being a victim of fraud.
He added that there was no need for embarrassment as it is a serious crime.
His advice was not to believe someone who contacts you out of the blue about investments, such as via social media or a cold call.
"You should not invest any more without doing some proper research or due diligence, you should take your time and don't jump into it.
"You do not invest without getting financial advice," he said.
Schemes more sophisticated than ever - gardaí
In a statement earlier Mr Cryan said: "Investment fraud is on the rise and the schemes are more sophisticated than ever before.
"Sadly, those who become victims are ordinary, decent people that are having huge amounts of their life savings stolen from them be it their inheritance or a retirement lump sum.
"The fraudsters involved in fraudulent investment schemes will sound convincing and claim to have insider knowledge but they are career criminals that are following a well-rehearsed script.
"It is crucially important that we are all mindful of who were are transferring money too and to be careful when sending via an international money transfer app to make sure it can be tracked.
"Investment fraud can easily happen and no one is to be judged - we really encourage anyone who has been a victim in the past or who has more recently become a victim of investment fraud to please come forward and speak with us in any garda station."
Reported cases
Gardaí provided examples of reported incidents of investment fraud so far this year that they are currently investigating.
Earlier this year a victim reported that she saw a post on social media advertising investment opportunities.
She made contact with the company, whom she believed was legitimate, and during the course of their engagement she agreed to transfer €28,600 from her Revolut account to another.
Separately, a man came across a trading broker online and initially invested €250 and after several more investments he noticed his equity rising rapidly.
He was able to withdraw €5,000 and therefore believed that the company was legitimate.
He continued to invest considerable size sums of money and within weeks had invested €250,000.
However, the online trading broker disappeared and the victim has suffered a huge financial loss.
In another case, a man saw an advert on social media for an investment scheme and filled in his personal details.
After being contacted by someone purporting to be involved in the investment opportunity, the man was enticed to send on €45,000 through a mobile app.
He was assured recently that he held over €727,000 which was available in USD coin via an Ethereum wallet but when he checked he could not access it in an Atomic wallet. Wallets are apps for buying and selling cryptocurrencies.
When he questioned this with his contact, the victim was told would need to pay €36,000 in DIRT tax to access to funds.
It was then that he realised he may have invested in a fraudulent scheme and reported it to gardaí.
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How to avoid investment fraud
- Do not invest money until you get reliable financial and legal advice
- Check the regulatory status of the company via the Central Bank of Ireland webpage
- Do not respond to pop-up/social media ads or messages with claims about investment returns
- Ignore unsolicited approaches or cold calls about investments
- Beware of celebrity-endorsed investments - they may not even know that their name is being used
- Be careful of cryptocurrency, bank bonds and hedge fund investment opportunities that present unusually high % returns
- Be wary of fake wallets for storing your cryptocurrency - these can be scams for malware to infect or control your computer
- Do not click on links for webpages that you don't know and always check that the site is HTTPS secured
- Never allow anyone remote access to your computer or download Apps that can give others control of your computer - 'AnyDesk’ is one example
- Take your time to consider before sending or transferring any money - get a second opinion from a friend, family member, colleague if not a financial advisor
- Never disclose personal data or bank account passwords or codes.
