Hong Kong cryptocurrency customer scammed in alleged HK$1 million ‘hell money’ scheme
- Suspects allegedly showed man stacks of hell banknotes and persuaded him to transfer about HK$1 million worth of USDT to cryptocurrency wallet provided by them
- Police’s technology crime division arrests three men, aged between 31 and 34, on suspicion of obtaining property by deception
The force’s technology crime division on Wednesday arrested three men, aged between 31 and 34, on suspicion of obtaining property by deception and confiscated 3,000 hell banknotes, a safe and a note counting machine at a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Hell banknotes are a form of ceremonial paper money that is burned as an offering to ancestors or deities in traditional Chinese culture.
Police said they received a report from a 35-year-old man on April 12 who alleged he had been unable to retrieve cash after selling about HK$1 million worth of the digital currency Tether, or USDT, at a shop in Tsim Sha Tsui that day.
An investigation found that the suspects allegedly showed the victim stacks of hell banknotes with a face value of HK$500 and persuaded him to transfer about HK$1 million worth of USDT to a cryptocurrency wallet provided by them.