Crypto scammers are desperately trying to hit it off with Canadians on dating apps and websites this summer.  However, many hopeless romantics are paying a hefty price in the process.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) noticed an increase in two particular types of crypto scams targeting Canadian citizens — pig butchering, or romance scams, and investment scams.

The CAFC and the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) jointly issued a warning about the sophisticated scams, “particularly those involving extended online communication.”

Scammers often engage with potential victims on dating platforms and try to persuade them to move the conversation to a private messaging service. The authorities warned Canadians to be wary of people who discuss crypto trading or investments.

“Fraudsters may try to befriend the victim, develop an online romance, or pose as legitimate investment advisers. Over time, the scammer will suggest investing in an opportunity, often involving crypto assets.”

Victims are often presented with crypto investment schemes involving unrealistic returns. They are made to sign up on bogus investment platforms created by scammers, and their invested funds are eventually locked out once their identity is compromised.

However, the victims are initially allowed to withdraw small portions of their to seem legitimate.

Canadians are expected to report such fraud occurrences to the CIRO, CAFC, and the local police.

In 2023, Canadians lost $309.4 million to known investment frauds, the most common type of scam that year. Of this, $172 million was from social media-related frauds alone.

Related: Binance sued in Canada for securities law violations

Canada is expected to apply the international Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) for taxation by 2026, according to a supplement to the 2024 annual budget.

The CARF would impose new reporting requirements on crypto asset service providers (CASPs), such as cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto-asset brokers and dealers and crypto-asset automated teller machine operators, whether they are individuals or business entities.

The supplemental report listed “stablecoins, derivatives issued in the form of a crypto-asset, and certain nonfungible tokens” as examples of crypto assets.

“Crypto-asset service providers would be required to obtain and report information on each of their customers, including name, address, date of birth, jurisdiction(s) of residence, and taxpayer identification numbers for each jurisdiction of residence,” the report stated.

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