Crypto scams on the rise in HongKong

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Last Updated on 6 November 2023 by CryptoTips.eu

Just now as the Chinese economy seems to be slacking, just now as many Chinese are converting their money into crypto in Hong Kong, just as crypto seems to be making a comeback in Asia, Hong Kong is plagued by highly innovative crypto scams. Not too surprising of course, but very unfortunate. The latest story involved an entire fake crypto store set up to rob just one person of her savings.

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The Sting

The story that took place in Hong Kong last week is reminiscent of the legendary 1973 film ‘The Sting’ with Robert Redford and Paul Newman (which won a combined 7 Oscars). In it, a fake gambling house, complete with staff and fake horse racing commentary, was set up to get their hands on one person’s money.

In Hong Kong, a similar trap was set up to trick customers into believing they could exchange their crypto (still banned in mainland China) at very good rates at a new shop in Chevalier House on Chatham Road South, in the residential area of ​​the city.

A woman who had some $130k in Tether in her crypto-wallet saw an ad on Instagram for the new store and decided to exchange her crypto for cash there.

Upon arrival, she showed her account total, received a large stack of bills (all of 1,000 Hong Kong dollars), and was asked to transfer the crypto to another digital wallet.

The man behind the counter then asked her to leave the store for a while because he had to go to the toilet and left the woman to wait for him outside. After 15 minutes with no answer from him, she went back inside and found a totally empty shop. The pile of banknotes contained two genuine banknotes, one on top and one on the bottom, and a whole pile of fake banknotes in between.

The story is going viral in Asia and people are being warned to be careful when exchanging their crypto for money. By now, police arrested a 21-year-old man.

According to the South China Morning Post, one of China’s largest newspapers, Hong Kong saw a 65% increase in crypto scams this year.

Jeroen Kok

Jeroen is one of the lead copywriters on Cryptotips.eu and discusses all recent events in the crypto market. This includes news updates, but also price analyzes and more. He developed his passion for cryptocurrency during the bull run in 2017. He has learned a lot since then. The combination of cryptocurrency and creative writing is perfect for Jeroen and an excellent way to share his knowledge with a wide audience. Find me on LinkedIn / [email protected]
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