A resident of the English county of Norfolk lost 180,000 pounds (about $227,412) by trusting cryptocurrency scammers and giving them access to their personal gadgets.

Local police say a Norfolk resident filled out an online form following a recommendation from a cryptocurrency investment advertisement. Then unknown people contacted the woman, promising to open a trading account and invest on her behalf in cryptocurrencies. The perpetrators contacted the victim regularly for six months.

Having established a trusting relationship, the attackers were able to persuade the woman to provide remote access to her phone and laptop in order to periodically transfer large amounts of money. The Englishwoman believed that money was invested in digital assets. The scam was exposed when she contacted the bank directly to verify the completion of the transfer. Naturally, there was no question of any investment – the money had already been stolen by scammers.

“The very first thing I felt when they told me about the deception was fear for my future, because I was left with nothing. Life will never be the same, and it’s hard for me to come to terms with the fact that some people can be so ruthless, ”the deceived one is perplexed.

Norfolk Police have urged the public to remain vigilant if they wish to invest in cryptocurrencies. Often, criminals lure people through social networks or fake websites. To convince people that their advertisements are believable, scammers may use photos or fake celebrity testimonials. The police warned that no legal company would force people to invest, and recommended that they conduct independent research on projects.

A similar incident occurred in Chelyabinsk. The police detained a migrant who stole 3 million rubles from a local resident under the pretext of selling cryptocurrency.