A local woman reported to the Judiciary Police (PJ) on Saturday that she was cheated out of HK$13,000 in a cryptocurrency scam late last year, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam said at a press briefing yesterday.
According to Ho, the victim told the police that she got to know a female netizen last November. The netizen persuaded her to invest in cryptocurrencies, claiming that the investment would be profitable. The victim set up an account and deposited HK$13,000 to invest in 1,400 Tether tokens, also known as USDT. The victim later found from her account that she had a total of 1,700 Tether tokens.
When she wanted to withdraw money from her account last month, she was told that she was required to invest up to a certain amount before she could withdraw any money from the account. The victim later discussed the matter with a friend who told her that she might have fallen victim to a scam. She finally realised that she had been cheated and reported the case to the police.
According to Investopedia, Tether (USDT) is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency whose tokens in circulation are backed by an equivalent amount of US dollars, making it a “stablecoin” with a price pegged to US$1.00. Stablecoins track traditional fiat currencies, like the US dollar, the euro, or the Japanese yen, which are held in a designated bank account.
Tether tokens, which were developed by the crypto exchange BitFinex, are the native tokens of the Tether network and trade under the USDT symbol.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam looks on at a press conference yesterday at the Public Security Police (PSP) pressroom.
Photo: Camy Tam
