Over the past year, there has been a significant increase in investment fraud in cryptocurrency bitcoin, from fifty notifications per year to over 1,500 in 2019.

"Fraudsters always find new ways to succeed," says Lotta Mauritzson at the police's National Fraud Center.

Advertise online

Most often it is about people seeing an ad online where they are attracted to invest a small amount in bitcoin. After that, credible salespeople call and try to persuade the person to invest even more.

- Then you see on a really nice website how the money seems to grow. But the problems come when you want to withdraw the money, then it is not possible. Either the '' value '' collapses or you do not get in touch with the seller and the company, says Lotta Mauritzon.

Stig-Arne Isaksson is one of everyone affected. He has lost almost SEK 400,000.

- My daughter said that "" I didn't think you would go for it ", no I didn't think so either." But they were so eloquent, credible and everything went so fast. I think about it constantly and constantly, he says.

Often heated

The police work very preventively to prevent more people from being affected. Among other things, by informing about how to see a suspected fraud.

- For example, a scammer's best trick is to invest quickly. If someone says so, then it is time to take a step back and investigate what it really is, says Lotta Mauritzson.

Stig-Arne Isaksson now hopes that everyone who has been affected will report and warn others so that no more people are affected.

- Some people are ashamed of being cheated like this. But I mean it's not us who are ashamed to be ashamed, it's those damn criminals, he says.