The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is raising the alarm over an emerging scam trend in which suspects pose as police officers to defraud victims of substantial amounts of cash and crypto.
According to reports, fraudsters have contacted victims by phone, claiming to be OPP members. In each case, the suspect used fake names, titles, and badge information to gain credibility.
Victims were instructed to withdraw large sums of money and either send the funds through crypto platforms or hand over cash directly. These tactics resulted in major financial losses, including incidents in which victims paid between $6,000 and $13,000 to individuals falsely claiming to be officers.
Canada crypto scams on the rise
The OPP also warned against crypto job fraud. According to the agency, the criminals are using the names of real companies in Canada. Fraudsters offer freelance job opportunities to “boost” products, apps, or videos using downloaded software.
The #LanarkOPP is seeing an increase in crypto job frauds. Using the names of real companies in Canada, fraudsters offer freelance job opportunities to “boost” products, apps or videos using downloaded software.
After the victim installs the software and creates an account,… pic.twitter.com/Reju5dY0h0
— OPP East Region (@OPP_ER) February 6, 2026
“After the victim installs the software and creates an account, they receive ‘orders’ or ‘tasks’ to complete. Victims might receive a small payment or commission in order to convince them that the job is legitimate,” OPP wrote.
This report follows an Estevan Police Service report on Bitcoin scams. They received a call from a victim who was contacted by someone who sounded like their employer. The scammer directed the victim to deposit funds into a Bitcoin machine.
Fraud in Canada has grown over the years. According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, as of September 30, 2025, 33,854 fraud reports had been processed, involving 23,113 victims. Losses totalled $544 million. Most people paid with crypto, which cost $23,815 CAD per transaction.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) issued a statement, publicly announcing the release of its Digital Asset Custody Framework. It outlines how dealer members operating crypto asset trading platforms (CTPs) should ensure robust protection of digital assets.
As reported by Cryptopolitan, additional requirements include firm governance policies that structure governance, ensuring compliance with key management operations, cybersecurity, incident response, and third-party risks. Also, mandatory insurance, independent audits, security compliance reports, and regular penetration testing are considered essential.
To underscore the importance of transparency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) imposed an approximately $12 million penalty on local crypto exchange Cryptomus last October for failing to report over 1,000 suspicious transactions linked to darknet markets and wallets.
These transactions were reportedly linked to fraud, ransomware payments, and sanctions evasion. It also fined offshore exchanges KuCoin and Binance earlier in the year for similar reasons.
Old people lose $700 million to an impersonation scam
According to Chainalysis, at least $14 billion in crypto was winding its way to criminals last year, versus $13 billion in 2024. However, it expects the figure for 2025 to increase to $17 billion once it identifies more illicit wallets in the coming months. This is already a record high, with the value of individual scam payments also surging by 253% year-on-year in 2025.
A big driver of these figures is the use of impersonation tactics, which grew 1,400% in volume YoY while related payments increased over 600%.
Americans aged 60 and older reported losing $700 million to impersonation fraud last year, up from $122 million in 2020. Most of the increase was driven by high-dollar theft. Reports of scams involving more than $100,000 increased eight times over the last four years, while losses of less than $10,000 merely doubled.
Although anyone can be a victim of an impersonation scam, the Federal Trade Commission says the elderly have been disproportionately harmed. Many scams rely on crypto transfers, which offer the advantage of being irreversible and decentralized.
One-third of older adults who reported losing $10,000 or more said they used crypto as a payment method. Most of those victims specifically mentioned Bitcoin ATMs—physical kiosks that allow customers to transfer money from credit or debit cards directly into crypto.