A Canadian police department has issued a public warning of a possible trend where high-value cryptocurrency investors are being robbed in their own homes.
On July 19, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Richmond, a city south of Vancouver, said several similar robberies involving cryptocurrency investors have occurred over the last 12 months.
Staff Sergeant Gene Hsieh of the Richmond RCMP Major Crime Unit said someone is “targeting these victims for cryptocurrency” and believed a public warning was necessary for public safety.
Richmond RCMP and Delta Police
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Police issue warning to high-value cryptocurrency investors following home-invasion style robberies.
— Delta Police Department (@deltapolice) July 19, 2023
The RCMP didn’t release specific details on the incidents but explained in each case the perpetrator impersonated a delivery driver before robbing the victim.
“The suspects gain access to a victim’s home by posing as delivery people or persons of authority. Once let inside the home, the suspects rob the victims of information that gives access to their cryptocurrency accounts.”
Staff Sergeant Jill Long of the Delta Police Investigative Services said the suspects appear to know that the victims are “heavily” invested in cryptocurrency along with knowledge of where they live.
The police department confirmed it made one arrest but has not confirmed whether several incidents are linked. It did not provide specific details about the incidents or how much cryptocurrency was stolen as the investigations are still ongoing.
To avoid a home robbery the department advised not letting strangers or delivery people — whether seemingly legitimate or not — into the household and instead ask them to leave deliveries outside.
If in doubt, a call should be made to the delivery company to confirm the person’s identity and authorities should be called if danger is or appears imminent.
Valuables and financial information should be kept somewhere safe within the household, such as a safety box, the police advised.
More generally the police recommend only discussing financial matters in private — not on social media — and only with trusted people.
In March, Canada’s self-proclaimed “Crypto King” — Aiden Pleterski — was allegedly kidnapped, falsely imprisoned and assaulted by five men who fell for an apparent cryptocurrency scheme from Pleterski.
One of the men, who reportedly invested 740,000 Canadian dollars ($560,000) into the scheme, was charged with kidnapping Pleterski on July 17, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.
Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.
Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.
Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?
The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.
Ex-Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry has defected to Reform, in the latest blow to the Conservatives.
The former MP for Rossendale and Darwen, who served as Northern Powerhouse minister under Boris Johnson and lost his seat last year, said he had defected to Nigel Farage’s party because the Tories had “lost their way”.
Reform UK confirmed the defection to Sky News, which was first broken by The Sun.
Speaking to the paper, Sir Jake said Mr Farage’s party was the “last chance to pull Britain back from terminal decline”.
“Our streets are completely lawless,” he said.
“Migration is out of control. Taxes are going through the roof.
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“And day after day, I hear from people in my community and beyond who say the same thing: ‘This isn’t the Britain I grew up in’.”
Sir Jake accused his former party of “abandoning the British people” but said he was not “giving up”.
“I’m staying. And I’m fighting.
“Fighting for the Britain I want my kids, and one day, my grandkids, to grow up in.”
Mr Farage welcomed what he said was “a very brave decision” by Sir Jake.
“His admission that the Conservative government he was part of broke the country is unprecedented and principled,” he added.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Reform support increasing the benefits bill by removing the two-child cap, and nationalising British industry. By contrast the Conservatives, under new leadership, will keep making the case for sound money, lower taxes and bringing the welfare bill under control.
“We wish Jake well in his new high spend, high tax party.”
Sir Jake’s defection to Reform comes just days after former Conservative cabinet minister David Jones joined Reform UK, which continues to lead in the polls.
Image: Former Welsh secretary David Jones (R) alongside Tory MP Mark Francois. Pic: PA
Mr Jones, who was MP for Clwyd West from 2005 until standing down in 2024, said he had quit the Tories after “more than 50 years of continuous membership”.
Sir Jake was the MP Rossendale and Darwen in Lancashire between 2010 and 2024, when he was defeated by Labour’s Andy MacNae.
He held several ministerial posts including in the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Energy and Climate Change and the Cabinet Office.
Image: Nigel Farage after winning the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
Pic: Reuters
He was also chairman of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022, under Liz Truss.
Announcing his defection – which comes a year after the Tories suffered their worst ever election defeat – Sir Jake said “Britain was broken” and “the Conservative governments I was part of share the blame”.
“We now have a tax system that punishes hard work and ambition,” he said.
“Just this week, we saw record numbers of our brightest and best people leaving Britain because they can’t see a future here. At the same time, our benefits system is pulling in the world’s poor with no plan for integration and no control over who comes in.
“If you were deliberately trying to wreck the country, you’d be hard-pressed to do a better job than the last two decades of Labour and Tory rule.
“Millions of people, just like me, want a country they can be proud of again. The only way we get that is with Reform in government. That’s why I’ve resigned from the Conservative Party. I’m now backing Reform UK and working to make them the next party of government.”
He added: “And with Nigel Farage leading Reform, we’ve got someone the country can actually trust. He doesn’t change his views to fit the mood of the day. And people respect that. So do I. That’s why I believe he should be our next prime minister.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Not content with taking advice from Liz Truss, Nigel Farage has now tempted her Tory Party chairman into his ranks.
“It’s clear Farage wants Liz Truss’s reckless economics, which crashed our economy and sent mortgages spiralling, to be Reform’s blueprint for Britain. It’s a recipe for disaster and working people would be left paying the price.”