Hong Kong scammers use fraudulent crypto shops to rob 13 investors of HK$14.8 million

Thirteen cryptocurrency investors in Hong Kong have been swindled out of HK$14.8 million (US$1.9 million) in the first nine months of the year after being duped into carrying out transactions in shops set up by fraudsters in the western part of Kowloon.

Police said on Thursday that scammers offered better exchange rates to attract targets and lured victims to make further trades and invest more money by showing them successful transactions.

The largest sum, amounting to HK$4 million, was taken from a 43-year-old businessman after he had made two legitimate transactions of HK$400,000 and HK$800,000 in exchange for Tether coins at a “cryptocurrency exchange store” in a shopping centre in Sham Shui Po earlier this month, according to police.

Senior Inspector Leung Wai-hin of the Sham Shui Po district crime squad said the victim realised he was being cheated after he was trapped in the shop on Monday during the third transaction, in which he handed over HK$4 million in cash.

“After the victim handed over the cash to a female receptionist at the counter, she falsely claimed she needed to count the money and exited into a separate room,” Leung said.