Woman Loses HK$1.5 Million in Double Scam
SingTao · 2 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
A Hong Kong woman was first cheated in an online investment scam involving a fake cryptocurrency trading platform, losing nearly HK$1.2 million within the past month. She then searched online for help, contacted a website calling itself the “Global Anti-Fraud Alliance,” and was allegedly tricked again by a bogus lawyer and a supposed anti-fraud ambassador, bringing her total losses to more than HK$1.5 million.
Key Points
- Police said on August 24 that the woman had fallen for an online investment scam last month after trusting a fake investment expert.
- She was persuaded to deposit money into a bogus website she believed was being used to trade cryptocurrency, and lost nearly HK$1.2 million.
- After searching online for “investment scam,” she found a site claiming to be the “Global Anti-Fraud Alliance” and contacted its customer service.
- The site introduced a supposed lawyer, who claimed a so-called anti-fraud ambassador could attack the original scam platform’s backend system to recover all losses.
- She then transferred cryptocurrency into another fake website for the supposed recovery process, losing more than HK$300,000 and taking total losses above HK$1.5 million.
Why It Matters
Police warned that fraudsters are increasingly targeting victims a second time by posing as law firms, anti-fraud groups or hacker organisations offering recovery services. For Hong Kong residents, the case is a reminder to verify website links and information sources before clicking, investing or seeking help, and to use the Scameter website, Scameter app or the Anti-Scam Helpline 18222 to assess risks.