Securities regulators in Alberta and New Brunswick have raised alarms about rampant crypto scams leveraging fabricated news articles and the likeness of government figures to exploit fears stemming from the ongoing trade war. The Alberta Securities Commission issued a significant alert on March 7 regarding a crypto investment scam named CanCap, which falsely claimed to have received endorsement from then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau via a fabricated article from CBC, the national public broadcaster in Canada.
This fraudulent piece suggested that Trudeau was responding to escalating U.S. tariffs by advocating for an investment program focused on digital currency. In a similar context, the Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick warned on March 5 that CanCap utilized a deceptive news article to falsely represent support from New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt.
This article was carefully designed to mimic a legitimate Telegraph-Journal web article, asserting that Holt was in favor of a 'provincial investment program' as a response to the rising U.S. tariffs. The content even included a faux transcript of an interview with Holt alongside doctored images portraying her endorsing the platform. The impact of U.S.
President Donald Trump’s policies has introduced notable uncertainty for Canadians. This was particularly evident after his announcement of a 25% tariff on Canadian goods in February, although this was partially rolled back before he further threatened a staggering 250% tariff on lumber and dairy products.
Mark Carney, who took over as Prime Minister from Trudeau on March 9, openly criticized Trump, labeling his approach as an 'attack on Canadian families' due to these tariffs. Carney expressed confidence, stating that Canada would 'win' in the ongoing trade war. Amid this climate of uncertainty and anxiety surrounding U.S.
tariffs, many Canadians are exploring alternative income sources, making them vulnerable to scams. Marissa Sollows, the communications director for the New Brunswick commission, highlighted that scammers are exploiting this very vulnerability. The regulators in both Alberta and New Brunswick underlined a trend where scammers are increasingly manipulating the current events narrative to influence potential victims' fears.
They are using advanced artificial intelligence technology to fake endorsements and generate content that provides a veneer of legitimacy to their nefarious schemes. These scammers exhibit remarkable adaptability, swiftly changing the scheme's name and appearance to evade detection. In the past, they have used various aliases such as 'CanCentra' and 'Immediate Flectinium,' and they are known to have linked the scam to at least six different websites operating under assorted domain names.
Notably, global losses from crypto scams, exploits, and hacks surged to nearly $1.53 billion in February alone. This spike was predominantly fueled by a staggering $1.4 billion hack targeting the crypto exchange Bybit, as identified by CertiK. Even after excluding the Bybit incident, the total losses attributed to crypto scams in February surpassed $126 million, reflecting a 28.5% increase compared to the $98 million lost in January..