Police in Hong Kong arrest crypto scammers

Police in Hong Kong have arrested four people, including a 14-year-old, for their involvement in a crypto scamming gang. They allegedly used fake banknotes to defraud owners of cryptocurrencies.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the group had a clear division of labor: two arranged the fake banknotes and set up a fake online crypto exchange. The other two suspects retrieved the banknotes from a storage room while disguising themselves as a serious business in a building nearby.

The gang's crypto scams led to losses of up to HK$11 million ($1.4 million). The arrests are part of police efforts to tackle the rise in crypto scams in the region.

Posing as well-known crypto investors, they lured their victims with purchase offers above the current market price. In their fake store, they then displayed stacks of counterfeit money for a "hassle-free transaction."

"The suspects did not allow the victims to open the stack of HK$1,000 banknotes because only the top and bottom ones were genuine," said Lo Yuen-shan, chief inspector of economic crime. Once the victims transferred their cryptocurrencies for sale, the scammers moved the funds out of the wallet and refused the cash payout.

With the recent arrests, a total of 14 people have been arrested in Hong Kong since October last year in connection with similar crypto scams. Hong Kong is considered one of Asia's most important financial centers. Since the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, there has been speculation about when investors from mainland China will be able to use them.