Australian police have charged five people in connection with a protracted cold call cryptocurrency investment scam that tricked more than 100 victims into losing $2.7 million.

The scam, which operated from Australia‘s Gold Coast, was busted as part of ‘Operation Quebec Walnut.’

According to a statement issued by Queensland Police, detectives investigated an alleged criminal operation which ran a number of businesses selling cryptocurrency investments between 2017 and May 2019.

The police, which charged three men and two women, say victims were offered the chance to invest in Exmount Holdings Group, a seemingly legitimate business with a website, call centre (with 1300 telephone numbers), and sales staff.

Other businesses linked to the scam included “Exmount Holdings Ltd,” “The Quid Pro Quo Foundation,” “The Atlas Group,” “AFG Associates Pty Ltd,” “tradex123,” “exmounttrading,” “atlasfxgroup,” and “amazonqus.”

To entice victims, scammers offered them a trial investment, based on the promise of generous returns once they had invested more funds.