Hong Kong retiree loses HK$7 million in 2 months in online cryptocurrency investment scam
- Victim, 55, realised she had been duped when she tried to borrow money from her daughter to pay ‘surety’ to get back some of her investment
- Source says victim was promised daily interest of HK$2,500 in addition to a guaranteed profit of tens of thousands of US dollars
A Hong Kong retiree lost all of her nearly HK$7 million (US$891,723) savings in two months after falling victim to an online cryptocurrency investment scam, it was revealed on Thursday.
The 55-year-old woman realised she had been conned when she tried to borrow cash from her daughter to pay a “surety” to get back part of the money last week, an insider familiar with the case said.
She fell prey to investment fraud when a scammer befriended her on Instagram in January. Police said the victim and scammer then continued to contact each other on a messaging app.
The victim was then coaxed into setting up an account on a bogus website to invest in cryptocurrency with the promise of high returns. Police said the information, such as the price of digital coins and positive returns, presented on such sites was fake and controlled by criminals.
“She was told she would be paid daily interest of HK$2,500 in addition to a guaranteed profit of tens of thousands of US dollars,” the source said.
Between February 11 and March 31, the retiree was lured into transferring HK$6.96 million into 19 designated bank accounts in 24 transactions, according to police.
She was asked to pay a surety when she tried to withdraw some of the money.