Police have warned about online investment scams after receiving more than 40 reports in the past week involving total losses of nearly HK$50 million, including a man in his 70s who lost almost HK$18 million after falling for a YouTube advertisement.
The man, in his 70s, was attracted by an investment ad on YouTube in June and left his contact details. A scammer posing as an "investment consultant" contacted him and added him to a WhatsApp group managed by a supposed "investment assistant," where members shared screenshots and messages about profiting from cryptocurrency.
Under the assistant's instructions, the man opened an account, transferred funds from his bank account to buy cryptocurrency and traded based on the tips provided. Two months later, the assistant introduced him to another fake investment platform claiming higher returns.
Between August and October, the man transferred more than HK$18 million worth of USDT and ETH from his crypto account to wallet addresses designated by the scammers. In early October, his son suspected something was wrong and alerted him. The man managed to withdraw about HK$800,000 worth of USDT at first, but the platform then refused further withdrawals under various pretexts, and he reported the case to police.
Police urged the public not to trust investment advertisements on social media or video platforms or strangers claiming to be investment consultants, noting that most members claiming profits in chat groups are accomplices. They also warned against transferring cryptocurrency to unknown wallet addresses, saying initial small successful withdrawals are a tactic to lure victims into investing more.
