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Cryptocurrency scams|The victim was deceived by 500,000 young people

2021-08-02T00:17:26.946Z


There are endless scam cases. There are online love cases for people who are swaying, and there are cryptocurrency scams for people who are familiar with technology. The Police Cyber ​​Security and Technology Crime Investigation Bureau stated that there were 496 similar cases in the first half of this year.


Scams have emerged in an endless stream. There are online love-related cases for those who are swayed by heart, and there are cryptocurrency scams for people who are familiar with technology. The Police Cyber ​​Security and Technology Crime Investigation Bureau stated that there were 496 similar cases in the first half of this year, more than the same period last year. More than doubled, the loss amounted to 214 million yuan.


One of the juvenile victims fell into the trap of selling old silver paper, believing that they could make a profit of 170,000 yuan, and paid a "customs clearance fee" for the shipment, and was asked to pay in Bitcoin, but was defrauded of up to 500,000 yuan; another young man The victim was even more exaggerated. Under the lobbying of three investment advisers, he bought the cryptocurrency claimed to be issued immediately and paid as much as HK$124 million.


Extended Reading: Cryptocurrency Robbery | 3 cases of fake selling of coins and real money grabbing involved 11 million police launching new plan to prevent fraud

(From left) Chief Inspector of the Cyber ​​Security Section of the Cyber ​​Security and Technology Crime Investigation Division Ip Cheuk Yu, Superintendent Fan Junye of the Cyber ​​Security Division of the Cyber ​​Security and Technology Crime Investigation Division, Director of the Licensing Division and Financial Technology Section of the Intermediary Department of the Securities and Futures Commission Supervisor Zhao Jiali, and Li Shaocui, director of the Youth Illegal Prevention Center of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups.

(Photo by Yun Jiajin)

There are more cases in the first half of the year than in the whole of last year

According to the police, the number of digital crimes related to cryptocurrency in the first half of this year has reached 496, which has surpassed the 494 cases in 2020, which is 138% more than the same period last year, of which 214 are social media fraud, 193 cases were investment scams and 46 cases were online shopping scams.

In the first half of the year, the loss amounted to 214 million yuan, 100 million yuan more than the full year of 2020, and 475% more than the same period last year.

The police stated that there are three main types of cryptocurrency scams. First, due to the anonymity and cross-regional nature of cryptocurrency, many criminals will use cryptocurrency to replace bank transfers or wire transfers as the main method of criminal proceeds, especially on social media. Scams, such as online romance and compensated dating scams.

In online blackmail cases, many criminals will trick or threaten the victim to send cryptocurrency to a designated address.

Second, criminals will pay attention to the victims' posts on trading platforms, such as auction areas, and pay the victims with false online transfers and empty checks, so that cryptocurrency can be transferred to them.

In the end, criminals pretended to be sellers and advertised on social media, claiming that they could sell new cryptocurrencies or virtual currencies at discounted prices, so that the victims could exchange them with mainstream cryptocurrencies. When the fraudsters were transferred by the victims, they would disappear.

The scam in the juvenile selling old silver paper

Superintendent Fan Junye of the Cyber ​​Security Section of the Cyber ​​Security and Technology Crime Investigation Bureau said that in March this year, a 14-year-old victim saw someone buying old silver paper at a high price, so he inquired with the agency and learned that the other party would pay 170,000 yuan. The boy’s silver paper was purchased, but an administrative fee was charged, so the boy bought a Google Pay online gift card worth 8,000 Hong Kong dollars, and finally back and forth for the criminals to purchase 12 different names of "customs clearance fees", such as the purchase of 49.7 Ten thousand yuan worth of bitcoins eventually lost about 500,000 Hong Kong dollars.

▼Analysis of police crimes involving science and technology from January to October 2020▼


The youth asks to cash out before they can find a scammer to know that they have been deceived

In the first half of the year, the amount of the largest loss case was that a 30-year-old businessman met 3 investment consultants under the introduction of a friend. The 3 people introduced to the victim that a cryptocurrency is about to be issued, which will definitely make a huge profit. During the month of April, a total of HK$124 million was deposited into the fraudster’s account twice.

Finally, in June, it was discovered that the price of the cryptocurrency had fallen from US$168 to US$73, so I asked for cash out, but the scammers have disappeared without a trace.

Zhao Jiali, Director of the Licensing Section and Head of the Financial Technology Group of the Intermediary Department of the Securities and Futures Commission explained that the SFC mainly supervises two parts, including virtual asset fund managers and monitoring virtual asset sales methods.

Zhao gives an example. If a fund manager invests more than 10% of investors’ manageable assets in virtual currencies, it will be regulated by the provisions of the Securities Regulatory Commission; the Securities and Financial Commission also has clear laws to regulate cryptocurrency trading venues. The license must sell at least one cryptocurrency with a security nature.

▼A screenshot of the police's 2018 ``Beware of Dating Trap'' promo ▼


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Li Shaocui, director of the Youth Illegal Prevention Center of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, explained that there are two main cases, but online investment accounts for the majority, and there are three types of victimization: active, passive and aggressive.

Li said that first of all, young people often have the mentality of quick money, and the investment amount ranges from several thousand yuan to several tens of thousands of yuan, with heavy losses; secondly, love fraud; finally, young people will receive group training, organized teaching of speaking skills, and lobbying others. Invest.

However, young people do not know that they have violated the law, because fraud is usually involved.

Crimes fell by 4.6% in the first half of the year. Sexual crimes and naked chat extortion “increased rapidly” indecent assault cases rose 69% 6.8% The overall crime in the first 8 months of this year exceeded 40,000 electronic frauds and a total loss of 500 million yuan in online love

01News

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2021-08-02

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