According to the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong police arrested a criminal group of four people yesterday (28), suspected of using counterfeit banknotes to deceive cryptocurrency holders and defraud crypto assets, including a 14-year-old teenager who made illegal profits. Up to HK$11 million (approximately US$1.4 million).
Teenagers swindled tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars in cryptocurrency in the past year
Reports indicate that Hong Kong’s Commercial Crime Bureau arrested a group of four criminal associates aged 14 to 39, suspected of possessing and using more than 5,000 counterfeit notes to defraud cryptocurrency holders, involving a total amount of up to HK$11 million (approximately 1.4 billion US dollars). Ten thousand U.S. dollars).
It is reported that the four suspects have a clear division of labor. Two of them are the masterminds, responsible for purchasing counterfeit banknotes and operating fake cryptocurrency exchanges, and finding and getting to know victims on the Internet; the other two are responsible for transporting counterfeit banknotes between warehouses and exchanges. :
The main suspect falsely claimed that he was a well-known cryptocurrency investor, and lured the victims to sell their cryptocurrency with a quote higher than the market price, then displayed the counterfeit banknotes to win trust, and finally completed the transaction online and transferred the acquired assets.
Chief Inspector Lo Yuen-shan said at a press conference on Sunday that the case would bring the number of arrests related to such cryptocurrency fraud cases to 14 since last October:
The suspect did not even allow the victim to untie the stack of HK$1,000 banknotes at the scene because only the top and bottom ones were genuine.
Police warn: Cryptocurrency scams on the rise
In this regard, Lo Yuen-shan called on young people not to participate in crime in order to make quick money, especially during the summer vacation, and worried that:
The above-mentioned fraud techniques are quite common in several recent cases. These four people and other suspects have defrauded 12 victims since October last year, involving a total amount of HK$10 million.
At the same time, it added, "Public people should regularly check the flashing patterns on banknotes to ensure authenticity."
It is reported that the maximum penalty for manufacturing, circulating or delivering counterfeit banknotes in Hong Kong is 14 years' imprisonment.
Hong Kong actively implements supervision and explores encryption technology
In recent years, Hong Kong has actively embraced cryptocurrencies, which can be easily seen from the regulatory and technical aspects, including the launch of spot Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs, continued crackdowns on unregistered exchanges, and strict enforcement of unlicensed users in Telegram chat groups. Investment advice and behavior, etc.
This month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) also joined forces with a number of financial and start-up institutions to participate in a "sandbox" project related to the issuance of stable coins.
(The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the participants of the "Sandbox" for stablecoin issuers: JD Coin Chain/Ruancoin Innovation/Standard Chartered/Animoca Brands/Hong Kong Telecom)
This article Hong Kong’s crackdown on cryptocurrency crime: A 14-year-old boy used counterfeit banknotes to defraud cryptocurrency and made US$1.4 million. It first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.
