A pair of Oceanside-area women lost substantial sums of money in a pair of recent frauds, including a woman out north of $50,000. (PxFuel)

By Ian Holmes

substantial scams

Oceanside seniors lose thousands in pair of frauds

Aug 14, 2025 | 10:11 AM

PARKSVILLE — A pair of costly scams came to the attention of Oceanside RCMP in mid-July, including a Qualicum Beach senior, who was swindled out of over $50,000.

Oceanside RCMP Sgt. Shane Worth said their detachment was made aware of a victim duped in a substantial cryptocurrency scam after she responded to a Facebook ad in April.

Sgt. Worth told NanaimoNewsNOW the victim was originally encouraged by significant gains she thought she was amassing.

“The victim appeared to have invested in what she believed was a startup company, and over the period of months she could see that her original investment had quadrupled to over $200,000.”

She then attempted to recoup some of her investment, however she was told getting some of her funds back required buying a specific type of cryptocurrency wallet to place the funds.

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“In order to start that crypto wallet, she had to fund that crypto wallet with more money, which she couldn’t afford to do,” Worth said.

The unlawful tactic appears to be an offshore investment scam, Worth noted.

He said their detachment continues working with the victim to track the funds, however, Worth said it’s unlikely the victim will be repaid.

Worth said it’s imperative to be extremely skeptical of unsolicited inquiries promising huge returns on investments, recommending financial investments be made with known reputable entities.

“Our word to people is do not get engaged with any of these investments online at all to prevent yourself from losing any money,” Worth implored, who added unsolicited texts, calls, emails and pop-up links should all be viewed highly critically.

Romance scam

Another recent scam reported to Oceanside RCMP also originated on Facebook.

A woman received a friend request in June from somebody unknown to her.

Over the course of several weeks, a rapport and trust was built up as private messages on the social media platform were exchanged, Worth said.

Believing a relationship was being formed, the unknown user requested and received money several times for a variety of reasons.

The woman is out $6,700.

Again, Sgt. Worth said this scam is extremely hard to investigate and recover funds, since anonymous accounts are difficult to track.

Several substantial scams have nabbed Oceanside residents this year, including a Parksville resident out over $100,000 after responding to online ads in May.

Another Parksville resident reported to Oceanside Mounties the loss of $130,000 in a cryptocurrency scam.

A variety of scams and frauds have also been reported in the Nanaimo area, including a resident bilked out of $13,000 earlier this year in a Bitcoin rouse.

Local fraud can be reported to your local police department, as well as the RCMP’s Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre

In the first six months of this year, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre estimates over $340 million has been lost due to fraud in Canada this year, representing over 17,000 victims.

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