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Binance users in Hong Kong lose $450K in wave of fraud texts: HK police

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Hong Kong’s police drive has raised the alarm after 11 Hong Kong-based Binance prospects have been focused in a wave of phishing scams despatched by way of textual content messages. 

Hong Kong police warned customers of the rip-off in an Oct. 9 submit to its Fb web page dubbed “CyberDefender.”

“Lately, fraudsters posing as Binance despatched textual content messages claiming that customers should click on the hyperlink within the message to confirm their identification particulars earlier than a deadline, in any other case their account can be deactivated.”

Police stated that after customers clicked the hyperlink and supposedly “verified” their private particulars, hackers have been then capable of acquire full entry to their Binance accounts, the place they proceeded to steal the entire belongings contained inside the customers’ pockets.

In line with the submit, the phishing scheme has seen 11 Hong Kong-based Binance prospects report mixed losses of greater than $446,000 ($3.5 million Hong Kong {dollars}) within the final two weeks.

The police has requested any customers who consider that they’d obtained a doubtlessly fraudulent message to log the suspicious messages on the “fraud prevention” part of its official web site.

Moreover, the police displayed a hyperlink to a newly revealed checklist of verified digital asset buying and selling platforms, supplied by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Fee (SFC).

Presently, solely two cryptocurrency exchanges — Hashkey and OSL — are totally licensed for retail funding functions in Hong Kong.

Associated: Hong Kong police, regulator kind crypto job drive as JPEX saga unfolds

Established in Might, CyberDefender is a mission launched by the Cyber Safety and Know-how Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Pressure, geared toward rising native citizen’s consciousness of on-line safety dangers.

In the meantime, Hong Kong crypto traders have been hit onerous by scams and fraudulent exercise in latest weeks, with the latest JPEX crypto trade scandal ballooning to an estimated $180 million in losses, with greater than 2,300 Hong Kong-based submitting complaints with native police.

JPEX was an unlicensed cryptocurrency trade that allegedly lured in Hong Kong residents with flashy promoting and “suspiciously” excessive returns on its lending merchandise. The trade ratcheted up charges on withdrawals from its platform on Sept. 15, rendering funds inaccessible to its customers.

Following the scandal — which has been described as the biggest monetary fraud ever to hit Hong Kong — the SFC introduced that it could publish an inventory of each totally licensed and “suspicious” crypto platforms, in a bid to fight potential fraud.

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