A 55-year-old Hong Kong resident has reportedly lost his entire savings worth almost HK$7 million (approximately US$900,000) after falling victim to an online cryptocurrency investment scam. Cases of such fraud have become quite frequent in the region recently. One study estimated that Hong Kong investors lost around $50 million in the first half of 2022 due to crypto schemes.
The woman became the victim when a criminal contacted her on Instagram in January, according to the South China Morning Post. They then started chatting on another messaging app, the investigation said.
After gaining her trust, the scammer advised her to open an account on an unfamiliar platform, invest in cryptocurrencies, and promised huge returns. Law enforcement officials outlined that the information shared on the venue about digital asset prices was fake and controlled by offenders. "She was told that, in addition to the guaranteed profit of tens of thousands of dollars, she would receive a daily interest of HK$2,500," the police said.
Criminals lured victims into transferring HK$6.96 million (US$886,600) to 19 designated bank accounts between February and the end of March. When the woman tried to withdraw some of the funds, she was asked to pay a fee. She even tried to borrow money from her daughter, only to realize that she had become a victim of fraud.
The Hong Kong retiree sought help from the police, who classified the case as "acquiring property by deception": a crime punishable by up to ten years in prison. Still, authorities have yet to arrest any suspects. This isn't the only example of a major crypto scam taking place in Hong Kong this week. A few days ago, a 44-year-old woman called the police, claiming she lost $3.1 million after investing in the stablecoin Tether (USDT) on a dubious platform.
Crypto schemes on the rise in Hong Kong
Figures for 2022 show that there were more than 10,000 cyberattacks in Hong Kong from the beginning of January to the end of June last year. Of those, 798 were crypto-related schemes that lost about $50 million from investors. By comparison, such crimes cost $21 million in the first half of 2021.
The police recently announced that the total number of cryptocurrency scams in the Special Administrative Region of China has ballooned to 2,336 by the end of 2022 (67% more incidents than in 2021). Law enforcement officers handled 1,884 of these cases.
