Hong Kong Police Nab $1.4M Cryptocurrency Fraud Syndicate

• Hong Police have busted a crypto fraud syndicate.
• The syndicate had a clear division of labor.
• Among the arrested suspects is a 14-year-old.

Hong Kong police have cracked down on a crypto fraud syndicate for allegedly using counterfeit money to swindle a dozen victims of digital assets worth over a million.

On Sunday, Chief Inspector Lo Yuen-shan said the police had arrested four individuals, including a 14-year-old, on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and possessing and using 5,000 fake banknotes. The suspects were nabbed Friday at a self-storage facility in Mong Kok, where they kept the bogus currency.

Ambitious Crypto Fraudsters

According to a South China Morning Post report on July 28, the crypto fraud syndicate had a clear division of labor, with two masterminds sourcing the counterfeit banknotes and setting up a fake online crypto exchange to lure unsuspecting victims.

The other two suspects were responsible for retrieving the banknotes from the storage facility and bringing them to the masterminds, who had staged a nearby store to disguise the operation as a legitimate business.  

Impersonating well-known crypto investors, the suspects would entice users with offers to buy digital assets at prices higher than market rates. This was followed by an invitation to the store, where victims were shown the “cash” and urged to complete the transaction online.

“The suspects did not allow victims to untie the stack of HK$1,000 banknotes because only the top and the bottom ones were authentic,” Lo stated.

Once the transaction was complete, the suspects would immediately shift the crypto assets to a new account and refuse to pay, leaving their victims stranded. The syndicate has allegedly used this tactic to steal digital assets worth HK$11 million (about $1.4 million.)

The suspects risk up to 14 years imprisonment, which is Hong Kong’s maximum penalty for the production, circulation, and passing of fake notes.

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