Latest Hounax crypto platform fraud sees victim lose HK$110m

Police have received a total of 88 reports in connection to the latest fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platform Hounax that saw 131 victims lose up to HK$110 million. 

The victims are aged 19 to 78 and the amount of losses in each case ranged from HK$12,000 to as much as HK$4 million. 

Police said they have requested social media platforms to shut down pages related to Hounax and asked telecommunications service providers to block all access to Hounax’s websites. 

Police said they will mount an arrest operation after further intelligence analysis and investigation. 

Superintendent Rick Chan Wai-kei from police’s Commercial Crime Bureau said victims were usually rejected by the platform’s agents using different excuses whenever they wished to withdraw money from their accounts, or they would be asked to pay expensive service fees. 

The victims at last couldn’t get their money back as the so-called agents vanished, Chan said. 

Chan continued that police so far have not found any linkage to the JPEX frauds. He also said Hounax claims to be based in Singapore and the telephone numbers start with the area code +65. 

Police may cooperate with overseas law enforcement agencies, Chan noted.