Crypto Scams Rose By 60% as Woman Loses $50M in Hong Kong

According to a crypto media outlet, a 55-year-old Hong Kong resident lost around $900,000 in an online cryptocurrency scam. She has fallen victim to a fraudulent scheme and lost her life savings.

The trend of committing fraud has become quite popular, and a survey suggests that investors in Hong Kong lost over $50 Million in the first quarter of 2022. The South China Morning Post reported that the woman came in contact with a wrongdoer on Instagram in January 2023.

The woman started talking to the wrongdoer and later connected via another messaging app. After the woman showed keen interest in the investment scheme, the fraudster suggested she link her account to an unfamiliar platform to earn good returns.

The Law enforcement officers highlighted that the information regarding digital assets and their prices on the scammers’ websites were counterfeit of the original ones and were controlled by the offender.

In the legal statement, police officials said the lady was told to be getting a daily interest of HK$2,500 and assured about thousands of US dollars in profit.

The scammer misled the victim and asked her to transfer HK$6.96 million between February to March into 19 different bank accounts. It is assumed that the bank accounts where money was transferred belong to the scammer.

After a few weeks, the victim tried to withdraw a portion of her fund; then, she was requested to pay a fee to withdraw the money. The woman tried to borrow the amount from her daughter before she learned that she had been cheated and scammers wiped out her life savings.

The 55-year-old woman sought help from the police department. As per Hong Kong rules and regulations, the case lies under “obtaining property by deception.”

Until the press, police officials haven’t charged any suspect behind the scam.

Such crimes lie under a punishable offense wherein the scammer could face legal charges, including ten years of prison.

It is not the first case of fraud in Hong Kong. A week earlier, a 44-year-old woman informed the police personnel that she lost $3.1 million after investing in USDT stablecoin on a dubious platform.

Increasing Trend of Crypto Fraud in Hong Kong

Data from several crypto and blockchain analysis firms suggests that Hong Kong notably reported 10,000 cyber attacks from January 2022 to June 2022. Of these 10,000 attacks, 798 were based on crypto ponzi investment schemes.

In 798 fraud schemes, scammers wiped out over $50 million from investors. The number of crypto frauds rose compared to 2021; in the first quarter of 2021, investors lost $21 million.

The Hong Kong police officials announced that the total number of crypto scams reported in Hong Kong rose over 60% by the end of 2022 and reported around 2,336 cases.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions stated by the author, or any people named in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not establish financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading crypto assets comes with a risk of financial loss.