A female insurance agent in Hong Kong lost more than 26 million HKD after being lured into investing in a fake cryptocurrency asset application through an online relationship.
Hong Kong police have just warned about a romance scam combined with investment in fake cryptocurrency assets, causing losses of more than 26 million HKD (about $3.3 million USD) to a local female insurance agent.
According to a police posting on social media on Saturday, this is the most severe case among 25 reported romance scams in Hong Kong from July 24 to July 30, with total losses during this period reaching nearly 70 million HKD (about $8.9 million USD).
According to the police account, the victim was a woman over 50. She was introduced last year to a person who claimed to be in need of insurance, who then continued to introduce her to a man nicknamed “Uncle,” who said he worked in the automobile business.
The relationship between the two people quickly developed into an online romance, in which the man built a polite, caring persona and claimed to have investment expertise, thereby encouraging the victim to invest in crypto assets and download an app promoted as a trading platform.
Within about six months, the victim transferred HKD 4 million, equivalent to USD 510,000, in cash to accomplices and sent nearly HKD 22 million, equivalent to USD 2.8 million, into multiple intermediary accounts that received illicit funds. When a fake app displayed profit levels exceeding 800% and the victim tried to withdraw money, all requests were rejected before the online boyfriend and his accomplices completely vanished.
A wave of crypto-asset investment scams has spread worldwide
The case in Hong Kong unfolded amid an intensified crackdown worldwide by authorities on “pig-butchering” investment scams. In April, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, in coordination with law enforcement agencies in Dubai, Thailand and China, said a global task force had arrested 276 suspects and dismantled nine scam centers used for crypto-asset investment schemes.
According to an official report, total losses from crypto-related fraud last year reached a record high of USD 11.3 billion, accounting for more than half of the USD 20.9 billion in losses from Internet crime reported by the FBI.
In a separate development earlier this month, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission asked online brokerage firms and crypto-asset trading platforms to gradually phase out one-time passwords in the account login and device registration process, as part of the regulator’s campaign to prevent account takeovers, fraud, and impersonation.