Police record 47 cryptocurrency scam cases incurring over $2.5m in losses

Hong Kong police announced on Monday that they have received 47 reports of suspected cryptocurrency scams, resulting in losses exceeding HK$2.5 million. 

This surge in fraudulent activity follows incidents where criminals impersonated Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Over the past week, victims have reported receiving phishing text messages from fraudsters posing as Binance, falsely alerting them to unauthorized login attempts on their accounts. 

These messages prompted victims to contact a phone number provided in the text. 

During the call, the scammers deceitfully claimed that the victims' accounts were being hacked and urgently required asset transfers to secure their funds.

Following the instructions of the fraudsters, victims made multiple cryptocurrency transfers to a specified wallet address. 

Upon calling back to inquire further, the fraudsters bluntly revealed the scam, leaving the victims to face the harsh reality of their losses.

The police urge the public to exercise caution with text messages that do not start with the '#' symbol, indicating that the sender's name might not be registered or verified by the communications authority. Such messages could be phishing attempts by imposters. 

Additionally, the public is advised against disclosing any personal or sensitive information to unverified senders and to avoid opening any hyperlinks contained within such messages.