Hong Kong Retiree Loses HK$6.6 million to Cryptocurrency Scam in Three Back-to-Back Frauds
The post Hong Kong Retiree Loses HK$6.6 million to Cryptocurrency Scam in Three Back-to-Back Frauds appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
TLDR: A 66-year-old Hong Kong retiree lost HK$6.6 million to three separate cryptocurrency scams in six months. Each scammer posed as a virtual currency expert on WhatsApp and vanished after receiving the transferred funds. Hong Kong police warn that anyone offering to recover scam losses is likely running a follow-up fraud. Police advise the public never to transfer cryptocurrency or money to unverified strangers’ accounts online. A cryptocurrency scam has wiped out the life savings of a 66-year-old Hong Kong retiree in just six months. The victim fell for three separate fraud schemes between September 2025 and January 2026. Each scammer posed as a virtual currency investment expert on WhatsApp. Hong Kong police disclosed the case via their “Net Keeper” cybercrime awareness platform. The total financial loss reached HK$6.6 million across the three incidents. Retiree Falls for the Same Cryptocurrency Scam Three Times The ordeal began when the victim received an unsolicited WhatsApp message in September 2025. A stranger, claiming expertise in virtual currency investment, initiated contact without prior introduction. Trusting the individual, the retiree transferred HK$1.4 million in cryptocurrency to a designated account. Once the funds cleared, the so-called expert went silent and disappeared entirely. Still hoping to recover the money, the victim searched online for another investment expert. A second contact then offered to help retrieve what was lost from the first incident. The retiree transferred HK$600,000 as a deposit, believing the recovery was possible. That contact also disappeared immediately after receiving the payment. In January 2026, a third scammer reached out through WhatsApp with a more convincing offer. This individual promised to recover losses from both previous incidents in one transaction. The condition involved purchasing HK$4.6 million in cryptocurrency and depositing it into a specified account. After the transfer was completed, the third scammer vanished just as…
Filed under: News - @ March 21, 2026 6:29 pm