• A 55-year-old Hong Kong resident lost her entire savings of HK$7 million (almost $900,000) to an online cryptocurrency investment scam.
• The scammer lured the victim to transfer the funds into 19 designated bank accounts with the promise of daily interest and a guaranteed profit.
• The police have launched an investigation and the criminal faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail if caught by the authorities.
Hong Kong Woman Loses Her Life Savings in Crypto Scam
A 55-year-old resident of Hong Kong has reportedly fallen victim to an online cryptocurrency investment scam and lost her entire savings worth nearly HK$7 million (almost $900,000). Such fraud cases have become quite frequent in the region lately. A study estimated that Hong Kong investors had lost around $50 million during the first half of 2022 due to crypto schemes.
Scammer Gains Trust Through Messaging Apps
According to a South China Morning Post coverage, the woman fell prey when a wrongdoer contacted her on Instagram in January this year. The investigation said they later started chatting on another messaging application. After gaining her trust, the scammer advised her to set up an account on an unfamiliar platform to invest in cryptocurrencies with the promise of great returns. Law enforcement agents outlined that the information shared on the venue regarding the prices of digital assets was counterfeit and controlled by the offender.
Victim Transfers Funds Into 19 Bank Accounts
The criminal lured the victim to transfer HK$6.96 million ($886,600) between February and the end of March into 19 designated bank accounts. When she attempted to withdraw some funds, she was requested to pay more money as additional fees which raised suspicion among her family members leading them report it to police officials immediately after which they began their investigation following reports from local media outlets including SCMP.
Maximum Sentence Of 10 Years In Jail For Criminal
The police are still looking for suspects involved in this fraudulent activity as part of their investigation process and warned people not be drawn into such scams by suspicious strangers or companies offering them investments with high returns as most likely these are con artists trying deceive people out their hard earned money illegally or through threats or violence willingly or unwillingly from victims like this woman from Hong Kong who has already suffered huge financial losses due its careless actions taken under pressure from criminals threatening them with danger if they don’t comply with requests made against their will . Upon successful capture authorities can impose maximum sentence upto 10 years imprisonment for similar crimes committed like this one depending upon severity judged by justice systems prevalent at time court proceedings take place .
Investment Frauds On Rise In Hong Kong
Such fraud cases have become quite frequent in Hong Kong especially over past few months recent studies conducted estimated that investors had lost around $50 million during first half 2022 alone due multiple crypto related schemes aimed at exploiting innocent citizens lack knowledge about legitimate ways investing digital assets . Therefore it is very important protect oneself properly researching company providing service before signing up any kind agreement it terms never fall prey unsuspecting offers guaranteeing large profits short periods time since chances losing money significantly higher than making massive gains within such short duration only possible through illegal activities conducted behind scenes either knowingly unknowingly person committing crime itself .