Since the beginning of the year, Saskatchewan residents have collectively lost $3.4 million to in cryptocurrency fraud.

That’s from the province’s RCMP, who say between January 1 and July 31, they had investigated 116 of these types of files.

For example, on August 26, RCMP received a report of cryptocurrency fraud at a business in Warman. An employee got a suspicious phone call where the caller told the employee’s they were their senior management. The caller said there was an urgent package that needed to be paid for by depositing a sum of money at a nearby cryptocurrency ATM.

RCMP say callers in these instances have used tactics such as the grandparent scam approach, employer scams, and investment fraud. This is where a scammer lures the victim using investment opportunities for cryptocurrencies to make a profit by creating links on social media advertisements.

If you or a family member have been impacted by a scam like this, report it to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre – even if you didn’t give them any money. If you did, report it to the local RCMP.