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.
Hong Kong architect cheated out of HK$24.5 million in crypto investment scam
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.
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“As she had forked out all of her savings, she tried to borrow money from her daughter, and then she realised she had fallen victim to a scam,” the source said.
The victim sought help from police last week.
Police have classified the case as “obtaining property by deception” – an offence punishable by up to 10 years in jail under the Theft Ordinance.
So far, no arrests have been made. Officers are trying to track down the holders of the bank accounts involved.
It was one of the latest cases in a string of cryptocurrency-related frauds in recent months.
Losses from cryptocurrency scams double to HK$1.7 billion in Hong Kong last year
An architect, 44, called police on Tuesday after she was lured into investing in the digital coin Tether on a bogus investment website and lost HK$24.5 million.
According to police, 2,336 cryptocurrency-related scams were reported in Hong Kong last year – a 67 per cent rise from 1,397 incidents logged in 2021. The cases involved about HK$1.7 billion in funds, a 106 per cent increase from the year before.
Police handled 1,884 cases of online investment fraud last year, up 92 per cent from 980 logged in 2021. The money involved also rose by 96 per cent to HK$926 million in 2022 from HK$472 million in 2021.
