Hong Kong: 9 Million Dollars Lost in a Week Due to Romance Scams

The Hong Kong police recorded 25 cases of romance fraud related to cryptocurrency in one week, totaling 9 million dollars in losses. An insurance agent lost 3.3 million dollars after being convinced by her virtual "partner" to invest in a fraudulent trading app. The scams follow a classic pattern: scammers contact their victims through dating apps, establishing a relationship of trust before proposing investments in cryptocurrencies. Victims are redirected to sites mimicking legitimate trading platforms, displaying fake profits to encourage further investment. Many realize they have been scammed only when attempting to withdraw their funds. This phenomenon, known as pig butchering, has taken on a global scale. A study from the University of Texas at Austin estimates that these criminal networks, primarily based in Southeast Asia, have stolen over 75 billion dollars between January 2020 and February 2024. Despite efforts to combat it, such as the freezing of 700 million dollars in cryptocurrencies by the United States, romance scams continue to thrive.

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