2023-5-4 15:00 |
Fraudsters have duped two senior citizens in Hong Kong out of $1.1 million through a phone phishing scam directing them to bogus trading platforms.
Scammers targeted a 66-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man to invest in Tether (USDT) and mainland stocks by posing as investment experts on online platforms.
Hong Kong Phone Scams Target Older PeopleA so-called crypto expert tricked the woman into investing in Tether through a malicious WhatsApp link leading to a site that harvested her data. The scammer gave the victim almost $10,000 in return to allay suspicion.
After seeing nearly $586,000 transferred to another wallet in 15 transactions across three months, the lady suspected a scam and contacted law enforcement.
Another “licensed” investment platform extorted $515,000 from a Hong Kong man by encouraging the use of a stock trading app. The man transferred funds to nine bank accounts but couldn’t access the platform to withdraw profits. He also reported the fraud to the police.
Technology-based crime accounted for more than two-thirds of fraud cases in Hong Kong last year. The first two weeks of April saw 196 jobseekers duped by a fraudulent, commission-based employment fraud that lost them $40,000.
U.K. and Hong Kong Governments Crack Down on Phone FraudHong Kong police announced that anti-fraud messages would accompany calls from numbers with the +852 prefix starting in May. Residents can use an app called Scameter to determine the threat level of suspected fraud.
Hong Kong Scameter Threat Assessment | Source: ScameterDespite these technological initiatives, Police Chief Raymond Siu believes banks could collaborate more to track illicit fund flows.
Criminals stole $127 million through phones the previous year, which has since dropped 48% as of Q1 2023.
On Wednesday, the U.K. announced a ban on crypto and insurance cold calling amid $9 billion in annual national losses. It also vowed to review access to mass-texting technology and announced new technology to detect when criminals impersonate legitimate U.K. callers.
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