Hong Kong woman loses HK$21 million in crypto scam
AM730 · 3 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong police said they received more than 40 reports of investment fraud in the past week, with total losses exceeding HK$36 million. One of the biggest cases involved a local woman in her 60s who was drawn into a cryptocurrency scam after posting on an online discussion forum and then continuing conversations with a fraudster on WhatsApp. The scammer told her to download a crypto wallet app from the App Store, then linked it to a bogus investment website for transfers. After early apparent profits, the victim transferred money more than 20 times over about six months before discovering the account had been “frozen”, leaving her with losses of more than HK$21 million.
Key Points
- Police said more than 40 investment scam cases were reported in the past week, with combined losses of more than HK$36 million.
- The victim, a local woman in her 60s, first encountered the fraudster after making a post on an online discussion forum.
- Their conversation moved to WhatsApp, where the scammer promoted cryptocurrency investment by claiming the returns would be highly profitable.
- She was told to download a crypto wallet app from the App Store and authorize it to connect to a fake investment website.
- The woman made more than 20 transfers totaling over HK$19 million; after paying another roughly HK$1.2 million to “unfreeze” the account, her total loss exceeded HK$21 million.
Why It Matters
The case shows how fraudsters can use familiar tools such as online forums, WhatsApp and app-based crypto wallets to make fake investments appear credible. It also underlines police warnings that promises of high returns with low risk, especially when tied to unknown websites, should be treated as potential scams.