Retiree loses over $25m in elaborate cryptocurrency scam uncovered by bank

Hong Kong police have recorded more than eighty instances of online investment fraud over the past week, including a severe case where a retiree was deceived out of more than HK$25 million over the course of a year.

The most significant case involved a retired individual who fell victim to a scammer posing as a financial professional. 

Following the fraudster's instructions, the victim was persuaded to invest in USDC, a cryptocurrency stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.

The retiree was then guided to download a specific digital wallet application to supposedly store the digital assets securely. 

Over a twelve-month period, the victim repeatedly visited physical cryptocurrency exchange shops to convert cash into USDC, dutifully depositing the funds into the newly created digital wallet.

The trap was sprung when the fraudsters sent a link to a fraudulent website, instructing the victim to synchronize their digital wallet with the platform. 

During this technical process, the retiree unknowingly granted the malicious website full authorization to drain the digital assets from the wallet. 

The victim remained completely unaware that the funds had been siphoned away by the scammers.

The year-long deception finally unraveled recently when the fraudsters attempted to persuade the retiree to transfer an additional several hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars via traditional online banking. 

The victim's bank detected the highly suspicious activity and immediately notified the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre. The subsequent intervention by law enforcement exposed the massive fraud.

Following an investigation, police noted that the malicious website utilized an unusual domain name and repeatedly prompted users to link their digital wallets. 

Authorities have issued a strong public warning regarding these tactics. 

Officials emphasized that if individuals are instructed to use a wallet application's built-in browser to access an unfamiliar website, it is highly probable that criminals are attempting to trick them into handing over authorization rights or security keys to quietly steal their digital assets.

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