Hong Kong securities watchdog puts virtual asset trading platforms Aramex and DIFX on alert list for suspected fraud

Trading platforms Aramex and DIFX alleged to have used social media and messaging apps to lure victims, Securities and Futures Commission says

Both platforms adopted names that resembled legitimate companies and watchdog warns that the tactic is used to confuse investors

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Hong Kong’s securities watchdog has added Aramex and DIFX on its alert list of suspicious trading platforms. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 10:38pm, 18 Jan 2024Updated: 12:12am, 19 Jan 2024

Hong Kong’s securities watchdog and police have issued a warning about two virtual asset trading platforms suspected of fraud after investors could not withdraw cash they had deposited.

Trading platforms Aramex and DIFX are alleged to have used social media and messaging apps to lure victims into investing money into supposed cryptocurrency assets, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said on Thursday.

But the SFC said investors were later unable to withdraw their money and the regulator appealed to the public to be “cautious about too-good-to-be-true investment opportunities and advice” posted on social media and instant messaging apps.

Both platforms adopted names that resembled legitimate companies.

The Securities and Futures Commission’s office in Quarry Bay. The watchdog said investors should engage with properly licensed financial institutions to make cryptocurrency or other trades. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Aramex used a name similar to a logistics company listed on the Dubai Financial Market exchange and DIFX resembled a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange.