Ben Perrin, a Calgary-based bitcoin enthusiast who runs an educational YouTube channel dedicated to enlightening the masses on all things cryptos, has succeeded in beating scammers in their own game and he’s donated the proceeds to Bitcoin Venezuela, a platform that helps Venezuelans buy groceries with cryptos, reports CBC on August 7, 2019.
Perrin Beats the Bitcoin Thief
As bitcoin and other cryptoassets keeps growing in value and use case, fraudsters keep advancing their “crypto-thieving” skills and expanding their networks to both online and offline channels in order to defraud others.
However, in the latest development, Ben Perrin, a bitcoin enthusiast and marketing director for a bitcoin trading venue who also runs an educational YouTube channel that teaches the public about blockchain-based digital assets, has proven too hot to handle for the fraudsters.
Specifically, an unnamed scammer messaged Perrin via Instagram, offering to double every bitcoin he sends to their wallet every 24 hours.
The scammer said:
“It’s a bitcoin mining investment platform for investors interested in starting their own bitcoin mining business but are unable to do so because they do not want to go through the difficulties and stress associated with setting up a bitcoin mining venture.”
The fraudster further promised Perrin that the proceeds from the fake crypto mining scheme would be sent to his bitcoin wallet automatically on a daily basis.
Perrin Plays Along
Instead of ignoring the scammer, Perrin decided to play along, pretending to be a crypto newbie interested in their get rich quick scheme.
He reportedly sent a fake bitcoin wallet statement to the fraudsters and lied to them he had previously been contacted by another investment team with a more juicy offer but he needed to be sure that the scheme was for real.
“I told them I would gladly invest $20,000 with them if they would simply send me $100 back, I could then return it to them, just to ensure that the project was legit,” declared Perrin.
Interestingly, the scammer fell into Perrin’s trap and sent him 50 USD instead of the requested $100.
Unfortunately for the bad actor, once Perrin got the funds, he quickly made it clear to the scammer that he was well aware of their plot and was just catching some fun.
He then donated the $50 to Bitcoin Venezuela
Commenting on the matter, Sergeant Matt Frederiksen of the Calgary police economic crime unit reiterated that though Perrin may have succeeded in scamming the scammer, the police does not encourage members of the public to engage in such an act, as it could be a dangerous thing to do.
Frederiksen also revealed that there have been 21 cases of fraud through crypto payments amounting to $1 million in the region in 2019 alone.
In related news, BTCManager informed in April 2019 that Australian scammers earned a whopping $4.3 million in 2018.
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