Hong Kong police bust crypto scam involving fake banknotes

Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested three individuals who allegedly duped a businessman out of HK$3.11 million, approximately US$399,000, in cryptocurrency.

According to a local report, the scammers promised to exchange the victim’s cryptocurrency holdings for cash at an attractive rate. However, once the funds were transferred, the victim was left with counterfeit HK$1,000 banknotes.

The scammers deceived the victim by placing two genuine banknotes on top of the three bundles of bank training notes that were offered in exchange for USDT. Further, the victim was asked to transfer his HK$3.11 million in USDT to a wallet under the fraudsters’ control before he was promised payment.

Training notes are used to train bank staff and closely resemble the actual currency. The only differentiating factor is that three Chinese characters that mean “practice coupon” are printed on them.

These notes also lack the watermarks present in the original currency, but if not careful, they can easily be mistaken for the original currency.

According to authorities, the victim asked to inspect the banknotes but was “refused” by the fraudsters, who claimed “they had not received instructions from the store manager.”

The scam was operational in the Mong Kok area of Hong Kong, which is known for its marketplace. Upon raiding the scammer’s office, authorities managed to seize 10,978 forged banknotes.

As of now, authorities have arrested the related individuals on suspicion of obtaining property by deception and possession of counterfeit banknotes. If convicted, the scammers are looking at a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail for deception and up to 14 years for the production, circulation, or passing of counterfeit notes.

Multiple similar incidents have occurred in Hong Kong over the past months. Last month, the Hong Kong police seized HK$2.55 million worth of fake notes, approximately $326,130 at the time.

The majority of these notes stemmed from just three cryptocurrency scams that involved the same cryptocurrency for cash scheme. These transactions also involved USDT.

Besides training notes, law enforcement had also seized hell banknotes, which are gimmick notes used in traditional Chinese rituals as offerings to ancestors or deities.