TL;DR Breakdown
- Police arrest 19 crypto scammers in Hong Kong.
- Scammers duped people in Taiwan, UK, Singapore and other places.
- Crypto community worried as crypto crime continues to rise.
19 alleged crypto scammers who have heisted around $1.4 Million proceeds from over 100 victims of crypto scams globally have been arrested by police in Hong Kong.
The police announced the arrest on Friday, noting that they seized nine computers, 128 smartphones, cash worth $179,600, $ 6,400 in cryptocurrency, and a sports car in connection to the case.
The alleged crypto scammers conned people across Taiwan, Mainland China, the UK, and Hong Kong. According to the police, one victim lost up to $97,500, marking one of the largest individual losses in a single case.
How suspected crypto scammers conned people
Per the police, 11 men and 8 women from the age groups 18 to 31 were arrested. The leader of the group was among those arrested and technicians, managers, and promoters.
They rented out commercial building units in the city to set up shop. The group also hired younger people as social media influencers who told victims to transfer an investment amount into the cryptocurrency e-wallets and scammers’ bank accounts.
They further instructed their victims to install unregulated and non-official crypto applications to transfer the investment amount onto the fake app or website designed by the scammers.
The victims, however, saw profits after their investment on the fake website or app which dey downloaded designed by the crypto scammers. However, the victims noticed the fraud several times when they tried to withdraw their funds.
The arrested suspects are still being held in police custody for more questions as police said more arrests connected to the group are likely to be made in the future.
Crypto crime continues to be a problem for the crypto community and the world. They are rising at a rapid rate. Back in July, the Hong Kong police arrested four people for allegedly laundering $150 million through bank accounts in Singapore for more than one year.
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