He earns 65,000 euros in Bitcoin but only receives 24,000

A Viennese citizen decides to invest 250 euros in Bitcoin, just out of curiosity.
When the price of Bitcoin begins to rise dramatically, he invests another 2,500 euros.
In just a month and a half, thanks to the cryptocurrency boom in that period, he found 65,000 euros in his digital wallet.
The amateur investor keeps calm.
Instead of continuing to invest or hoping for even higher profits, he decides to withdraw the entire amount.
But something doesn't go as expected.
Bitcoin: he earns 65,000 euros but receives only 24,000 And this is where the trouble begins: the intermediary with whom he carried out the transaction asked him for 20,000 euros in commissions to be able to credit the money earned by the man.
And things continue in the worst possible way.
Digging deeper, it turns out that the supplier had not taken out insurance for international financial transactions for the investor – and that the investor would therefore have had to pay another 21,000 euros.
Only then would it be possible to receive what was lawfully earned.
Thus, the huge profit drops from 65,000 to 24,000 euros.
The investor turns to the competent authorities The man, together with other Viennese victims of the same situation, turned to the Cybercrime Helpline of the city of Vienna for help.
There he received initial advice and contacts from the Association for Consumer Information (VKI) and the responsible ombudsman's office.
Since October 2022, Vienna has been the first European city to have a contact point on the topic of cybercrime on the initiative of city councilor for digitalisation Ulli Sima (SPÖ).
The aim is to combat the – sadly growing – phenomenon of Internet crime and to help those affected with free preliminary information and referral to the competent consultancy centre.
The analysis of the requests received in the first year clearly shows where the problem lies: in 51% of cases the cause of the consultation was IT fraud, in particular the loss of money and theft of online data.
12% of the cases concern phishing, followed by data protection (9%), malware (5%) and blackmail (5%).
"Even in the digital world, criminals always play on the wishes and fears of their victims.
With the Cybercrime Helpline we have established a reality that further raises awareness on the topic, helps Viennese contain any damage and be better prepared for the next attack Vigilance and knowledge are our most important allies, together with NGOs and NPOs who have deep and in-depth knowledge,” said Jörg Neumayer, digitalisation specialist in the SPÖ in Vienna and creator of the Cybercrime Helpline.
How to invest in cryptocurrencies safely When deciding to invest in cryptocurrencies, it is important to choose a safe and reliable intermediary.
There are several platforms that allow you to buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies.
Some may be safer than others; behind others real scammers can hide.
The factors to consider when choosing your intermediary range from the safety of the investor's funds to ease of use, from reputation to the availability of buying and selling a wide range of cryptocurrencies.
Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that exchange platforms can be subject to hacker attacks and fraud.
It is therefore advisable to keep most of your cryptocurrencies in an offline wallet, also known as a cold wallet, to protect your investments from bad actors.
read also The best crypto exchanges in 2024