Hong Kong police expose $3.3M romance scam in fake crypto app

Homepage > News > Business > Hong Kong police expose $3.3M romance scam in fake crypto app Hong Kong police have reported that a local insurance agent lost more than HK$26 million ($3.3 million) after falling victim to an online romance investment scam involving a fraudulent digital asset app. How fake investment apps trap victims Regional scam losses reach staggering levels AI tools supercharge more convincing scams According to an August 30 “Cyber Defender” Facebook post from the Hong Kong Police, the authorities received 25 investment scam cases involving online dating over the past week, with total losses approaching HK$70 million ($8.9 million). The single biggest loss was suffered by a fifty-something woman in the insurance sector who was victim to a romance scam, an increasingly pervasive crime often linked to the digital asset space. Romance scams, also referred to as “Pig butchering,” are long-con scams in which fraudsters build a relationship—often romantic or friendly—with a victim over time, then persuade them to invest increasing amounts of money into fake investment schemes. These schemes frequently involve a fraudulent digital asset or trading platform contr...