Hong Kong retiree targeted in cryptocurrency investment scam, losing over 4500000 HKD
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AT A GLANCE
A retired woman in her sixties in Hong Kong was induced to use USDT to participate in a fake investment, ultimately losing more than 4500000 HKD.
Article
【Hong Kong retiree targeted in cryptocurrency investment scam, losing over 4500000 HKD】
Hong Kong police said in a post on the social media platform CyberDefender that they received more than 1 reports of investment scams over the past 50 weeks, involving losses exceeding 30000000 HKD. A retired woman in her sixties met a man through a property sale and rental platform who claimed to be interested in renting a property. The man recommended cryptocurrency investments while posing as an investment expert. He sent her a link to a fake investment website and induced her to invest funds by promising returns. Following his instructions, the woman went to physical cryptocurrency exchange shops 20 times to purchase USDT, then transferred it to a designated wallet, purportedly for investment in ETH. She initially managed to withdraw part of the funds successfully and subsequently continued to increase her investment. When she attempted another withdrawal, the man demanded that she pay 7000000 HKD worth of USDT as tax, at which point she realized she had been scammed, ultimately losing more than 4500000 HKD.
Key points
01
Hong Kong police said they received more than 1 reports of investment scams over the past 50 weeks, involving losses exceeding 30000000 HKD.
02
A retired woman in her sixties met a man through a property sale and rental platform who claimed to be interested in renting a property.
03
The man recommended cryptocurrency investments while posing as an investment expert and sent her a link to a fake investment website.
04
The woman went 20 times to physical cryptocurrency exchange shops to purchase USDT, then transferred it to a designated wallet, purportedly for investment in ETH。
05
The woman initially managed to withdraw part of the funds successfully and subsequently continued to increase her investment.
06
When she attempted another withdrawal, the man demanded that she pay approximately 7000000 HKD worth of USDT as tax.
07
The woman ultimately lost more than 4500000 HKD.
AI-assisted interpretation
The following is analysis, separate from reported facts. Verify important claims independently.
The scammers first established contact on the pretext of renting a property, then recommended cryptocurrency while posing as investment experts and used a fake website to display investments and returns. After the victim was initially able to withdraw part of the funds, she continued investing until she realized she had been scammed when the scammers demanded a large “tax” payment.
Why it matters to readers
The incident shows that being able to make an initial withdrawal does not mean an investment platform is genuine or reliable; after USDT is transferred to a wallet designated by a stranger, the funds may be difficult to recover. The material only states that USDT was used for the transfer and that ETH was the purported investment asset; it does not indicate that either was itself problematic.
Beginners should treat it as a high-risk signal when strangers recommend investments, ask them to transfer coins to a designated wallet, or demand an additional tax payment before withdrawal. They should not continue adding funds merely because a small withdrawal succeeded at an early stage.
Risks and unknowns
The current evidence is a retelling of a post by Hong Kong police on a social media platform; the original police post or case number was not provided.
The material does not state the name of the website involved, the wallet address, the name of the exchange shop, or how the suspect was handled.
The material does not state whether the lost funds can be recovered.
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Related concepts
USDT
Cryptocurrency assets held by the example wallet mentioned in the text.
