British police have arrested an individual for allegedly fleecing would-be investors via a fake cryptocurrency investment scheme.
In an August 11 news post, the City of London Police said that they had detained a man they believed was part of a group that was cold-calling people in the U.K. and offering them cryptocurrency investments. The “boiler room” operation was run out of an office in the City of London, the capital’s financial center, the report said.
But despite persuading some individuals to invest in the scheme, the cryptocurrency apparently never existed. The police said those involved were able to make £160,000 (roughly $205,000) through the scheme.
According to the police statement, the unnamed individual is being charged with money laundering and conspiracy to defraud.
“Investment fraudsters are still targeting people throughout the country and they employ aggressive sales tactics which are often used to [pressure] unsuspecting victims into parting with large sums of money,” inspector Mark Forster said in a statement.
An investigation into the scheme began earlier this year after some of the victims contacted Action Fraud, a U.K. fraud and cybercrime reporting service.
While the police statement didn’t provide the name of the cryptocurrency touted by the fraudsters, past reports have indicated that police in London are investigating OneCoin – a crypto investment scheme widely alleged to be fraudulent.
British police image via John Gomez/Shutterstock