Hong Kong Police Publish Details of USDT Fraud Case in Effort to Raise Public Awareness of Crypto Scams

cryptonews.com:

Police in Hong Kong have begun publishing details of crypto fraud cases – in the hope that the public will take valuable lessons from cases that have seen people lose thousands of dollars to crypto villains.

Per Takungpao, the move is part of the Eastern District police force’s “Operation Shield” program – a drive aimed at “raising awareness of fraud and fraud prevention.” Officers stated that fraud cases are on the rise in Hong Kong, with crypto scams a particularly fast-growing trend.

The police stated that, on average, fraudsters claim a cumulative USD 2.5m per day from Hong Kong-based victims.

The program will see the police publish details of cases in a monthly magazine – and began with the case of an engineer who was allegedly stung by crypto scammers to the tune of almost USD 1m.

The victim, police stated, came to a police station to file a report on July 23 this year, explaining that he had been approached by fellow users of the social media and chat app platform WeChat. These individuals had introduced him to what turned out to be a “fraudulent virtual currency investment platform” that offered investors high returns.

The bogus platform appears to have been highly sophisticated in nature. The engineer explained that he had “opened an account” on the platform, “as instructed by customer service.”

Over the course of 10 days in July, the police explained, the engineer then proceeded to make 28 tether (USDT) deposits to what later turned out to be “numerous puppet accounts held by the fraudsters.”

At first, the victim seemingly believed that his “investments” had paid off, as the platform’s interface appeared to show that he was making profits. At this point, “he was not suspicious,” officers continued.

But matters