Hong Kong woman loses HK$21.5 million in crypto scam
HK01 · 5 SOURCESabout 4 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
A 60-year-old woman told police she lost about HK$21.5 million after falling for a cryptocurrency investment scam that began on an online platform. She said a fraudster posing as an investment expert persuaded her to use a virtual website to buy crypto assets, then demanded further payments as “deposits” to prove the account was not linked to money laundering. The transfers were made over more than five months, and the woman reported the case after becoming suspicious. Police have classified the case as obtaining property by deception and said no arrests have been made.
Key Points
- Police received the report on October 3 from a 60-year-old woman who said she had been cheated out of about HK$21.5 million.
- The woman said she first met a scammer on an online platform, where he presented himself as an investment expert.
- She was then induced to invest in cryptocurrency through an online investment platform linked to a virtual website.
- The platform later demanded “deposits” to prove her investment account had not been used for money laundering, prompting repeated transfers.
- Between April 14 and September 22, she transferred about HK$21.5 million to designated investment accounts before suspecting fraud.
Why It Matters
The case shows how online investment fraud can escalate from an initial approach into repeated demands for more money under the guise of compliance checks. For Hong Kong residents, the warning is that requests for extra payments to “unlock” funds or prove account legitimacy are a common red flag in crypto-related scams.