An unemployed local woman fell for an online digital currency investment scam in late September last year, with a total loss of US$26,500 (211,640 patacas), Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man said at a regular press conference on Wednesday.
According to Chan, the woman, who is in her thirties, reported to the police recently that she met a male netizen on a social media app on September 22 last year. The man urged the victim to invest in digital currency the following month, and told her that the investment could earn a lot of money.
The victim downloaded an app and opened an account as instructed by the man, and invested US$16,000. The man later instructed her to download another app and she transferred the US$16,000 to the new app to continue her investment. As of December 10, the victim was able to earn a profit and withdrew US$7,300, while the remaining balance in the account was about US$8,000, Chan said.
Afterwards, the investment account reached a total of US$39,000, consisting of the principal and profit. The victim then wanted to withdraw some of the money but to no avail. She contacted her account’s purported customer service staff who told her that her account had been frozen for involvement in money laundering, and that she needed to purchase digital currency corresponding to 30 percent of her investment in order to unfreeze the account. The victim followed the instruction and deposited an additional US$11,800, but she was still unable to withdraw any money from the account, Chan said.
According to Chan, the “customer service staff” then told her that due to the malfunctioning of the withdrawal link, the victim was required to buy digital currency corresponding to 18 percent (US$9,150) of the total investment (US$50,800) in her account. When the victim refused to pay, the male netizen contacted her immediately, saying that he could assist her in paying US$3,100 as part of the US$9,150, and purportedly deposited the amount into the victim’s account. The victim then deposited the remaining US$6,050, but still she was unable to withdraw any money from her account. She finally realised that she had been defrauded and reported the case to the police.
The Judiciary Police are continuing their investigation, and no one had been arrested at the time of the press conference, according to Chan.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Chan Wun Man poses during a regular press conference at the PJ headquarters on Wednesday.
Photo: Camy Tam
