After a tough 2 years, Hamilton's Bar Sazerac is dealt another blow with crypto phishing scam

Scott Bennett was watching Instagram stories back on June 3 when he noticed something off about a friend's business page.

While browsing, he saw that the Bar Sazerac account posted what looked like a fabricated and off-brand screenshot about 10 minutes earlier. It showed a picture of a digital wallet used for cryptocurrency.

"It appeared to be a cryptocurrency wallet with their bar's name in it, saying how thankful they were to some unknown Instagram account about their record profits," Bennett said.

After working in the information technology (IT) and cybersecurity field for more than a decade, Bennett knew something was fishy.

Crypto crime is on the rise in Canada and the U.S.. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says it received reports of cryptocurrency fraud losses in 2021 amounting to $75 million. A recent report released by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission shows that since the beginning of 2021, more than 46,000 people have reported losing over $1 billion in cryptocurrency to scams.

Locally, the Haldimand Crime Unit is currently investigating a case involving a person living in Hagersville, Ont. who was defrauded of $400,000 after investing in an online cryptocurrency scam.

Cryptocurrency is a largely unregulated digital currency market dealing in direct transactions of value and certain features may explain why it is a preferred target for hackers. For one, cryptocurrency transfers cannot be reversed and there is no bank to flag suspicious transactions.

Bennett said he sent Sazerac's owners a text message with a screenshot of the post saying he was pretty sure their Instagram account had been compromised.

Kyle and Jennifer Ferreira, owners of Bar Sazerac, confirmed shortly after that it had been hacked. Messages had started rolling in to them through text messages and Facebook from friends and patrons to let them know something was up.

They were "at a loss as to how this happened," Kyle said, adding that the hack has been an "unnecessary, unfortunate headache."

Like many businesses, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ferreiras use social media as the primary way to communicate with their customers. 

"My wife and I have worked really hard to present ourselves as people who take great care and have great reverence for everyone who comes to our bar," Kyle said.

"And the concept that we hurt anyone or we had inconvenienced anyone really... it's just not nice."

Social media is a very common avenue of attack for hackers, typically through what are known as phishing campaigns in which they send you a message offering or asking you for something, Bennett said.